Stop the Spam: How to Spot Scam Emails After Registering for SAM.gov

Many businesses that register in SAM.gov (System for Award Management) for government contracting or federal assistance and appear in the SBA’s small business search database begin receiving unsolicited emails immediately afterward. Because your business information becomes public, for-profit companies often send messages that look official but are designed to sell services you do not need to pay for.

Please remember:

• Legitimate communication will come only from “.gov” email addresses or from the CAGE office.
• SAM.gov does not charge for registration or annual renewal.
• Any email requesting payment to update or maintain your SAM.gov account is not from the government.
• Messages that threaten expiration or use urgent language are often scams or sales tactics.

Wyoming APEX Accelerator provides free assistance with SAM.gov registration, renewals, and updates. If you receive a suspicious message, feel free to contact us, we’re happy to review it before you respond. But most importantly- you can weed out the for-profit companies by looking at the email address. Is it from a “.gov” or a CAGEREVIEW@dla.mil? If not- it’s NOT SAM.  If it claims to be SBA, and it does not come from a “.gov” or “dla.mil, it is also NOT the SBA.

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The Wyoming SBDC Network is hosted by UW with state funds from the Wyoming Business Council and funded, in part, through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration. Full funding disclosures available at wyomingsbdc.org/about

All opinions, conclusions, and/or recommendations expressed herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the SBA.