We have heard from a member about getting an email, purportedly from the EPA, with their logo and “Sustainability in Eugene” header. It goes something like this:
“The OR Department of Environmental Protection in conjunction with EPA (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) are contacting you to ensure your business is in compliance with Federal Environmental Regulations.
Purpose of this contact:
EPA has many compliance and enforcement resources specifically designed to meet the needs of the small business. Our objective is to review in simple steps regulations that may be applicable to your business, so you can avoid costly problems.”
It goes on for a while longer about compliance, and then there’s a link to download the “Smart Steps Guide.” DON’T CLICK THE LINK!
If you receive an email like this, please beware! Don’t click the link! Always check the email address. If it’s from a governmental agency, it will have a .gov at the end and will be simply stated. Start looking at email addresses of emails you know are legit to get a feel for what a “real” email address might look like. We’re always here to help if you have concerns. And, often you can simply google the email address and find that others will have already reported it being bad. No report, however, does not mean, for sure, you are dealing with a good entity. Be cautious and suspect of all emails you receive.