Lesson learnt;
when in doubt, stop!
Kalau tak boleh jugak stop, at least just pause for a few second, and start Googling.
Yesterday we received a fax from a formal-sounding organization. Although the fax did not explicitly state its’ link to the Gov, the name of the Org alluded that such a connection exists. But that was only my opinion. I could be wrong, so I chose to keep quiet.
Anyway, the fax was actually an invitation for a pre-tender. Among the documents needed in the pre-tendering process were various company’s certificates, and also a cheque to be paid to the Consultant appointed by the Org. For someone who very rarely involves in the early stages of a project, the request for the cheque to be paid to the Consultant did smelled a rat. But my scepticism proved to be wrong when my friend explained that, although it only happens every now and then, there are certain projects which requires the same. Ok lah, habis di situ.
Later that day, the boss asked my friend to compile all photocopied certs into one document; complete with a nice cover and ring-bound some more. Of course on the cover page you need to state name of the Org and its’ logo, name of the project, etc. So my friend Googled the name of the Org to find a soft-copy of its’ logo.
Surprise, surprise! Not even once the name of the Org was mentioned anywhere on the web. I thought my friend could’ve made a typo, so I searched the full name of the Org. Still we found nothing. And then I Googled the name of the Consultant, and it brought me to this, and this. Most recent search would also yield this.
I showed the search result to my friend, and then quickly went to see the boss. Turned out my boss was also sceptical of the offer, as the fax looked somewhat ‘unprofessional’, and some other requirements by the Org were not like any other standard procedure he had ever encountered.
We had a good laugh over the incident. Luckily, all the certs and cheque belum siap and did not make it out through the office door. Selamat!
