Recently many farmers around the country have reported receiving phone calls or faxes purporting to be from the United States Department of Agriculture complete with the USDA logo and seal.  Many of these faxes are from USDA Senior Procurement Officer Frank Rutenberg.  The truth is that the USDA neither has a Senior Procurement Officer nor an employee named Frank Rutenberg.  It may look official, but it is a scam with the sole intention of getting personal identification information such as Social Security numbers to make the unwary victim of identity theft.

TIP

Never give personal information to anyone whose identity you have not confirmed.  If you are a farmer and you think that such a fax or phone call might be legitimate, confirm it with a call to the real USDA.