| Contact Us Division of Personnel Security and Access Control (DPSAC), Office of Research Services Building 31, Room 1B03
Hours: 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Monday - Friday Personnel Security Helpdesk: 301-402-9755 E-mail: orspersonnelsecurity@ mail.nih.gov Access Control Helpdesk: 301-451-4766 E-mail: facilityaccesscontrol@ mail.nih.gov   |
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NBIB Publishes FY'18 Background Investigation Costs Early to Help Customer Agencies Plan their Annual Budgets
The National Background Investigations Bureau (NBIB) recently published billing rates for reimbursable background investigative services that become effective FY'18 (October 1, 2017).
These new rates, published in Federal Investigation Notice (FIN) No. 17-04, reflect NBIB's continued commitment to publish its investigative prices in time for (its) "customer agencies to best account for investigation costs in (their) annual budgets."
Funding for NBIB is provided solely through the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Revolving Fund, which is financed by amounts NBIB will receive from providing services in FY'18 and retained amounts in the Fund from receipts generated and collected during prior fiscal years. Therefore, in building early required funding projections, NBIB is assuming a certain amount of risk with the publication of this FIN.
NBIB traditionally publishes its revised Background Investigation pricing schedule closer to the beginning of the new fiscal year. However, in light of recent legislation, executive orders and policies that may impact funding, they have decided to publish next fiscal year's rates early.*
According to NBIB, these new laws, executive orders and policies may have the potential to reduce NBIB's FY'18 workload and associated program funding.
NBIB acknowledges in 'Federal Investigations Notice NO. 17-04' that it "reasonably considered the potential impacts of these and other factors external to the program that are currently identifiable, along with inflationary cost increases, when developing prices. NBIB will work with its customer agencies and do everything possible to maintain these published prices; however, the full impact of external factors may require an adjustment to prices prior to the beginning of FY 2018."*
To view the pricing schedule for all FY 2018 billing rates, click on Federal Investigations Notice No.17--04.
Costs for the eight most commonly ordered investigations at the NIH are listed in Figure 1.
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| Figure 1. FY'18 cost of the 8 most commonly ordered investigations at the NIH |
Figure 2 below shows FY'17 billing rates for commonly ordered investigations at NIH. To v
iew all FY'17 billing rates, please click on the link: Federal Investigations Notice No.16--06.
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Figure 2. FY'17 cost of the 8 most commonly ordered investigations at the NIH
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* Factors that may affect funding for FY'18:
- January 17, 2017 USD (I) Memorandum, "Extension of Periodic
Re-investigation Timelines to Address the Background
Investigation Backlog
- Presidential Memorandum of January 23, 2017, "Hiring
Freeze"
- Executive Order 13871 of March 13, 2017, "Comprehensive
Plan
for Reorganizing the Executive Brand"
- Public Law 114-328, National Defense Authorization Act for FY
2017, section 951, "Enhanced Security Programs for
Department
of Defense Personnel and Innovation Initiatives."
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N
ational Background Investigation Bureau (NBIB) Announces Adjustments for Background Investigations for Tiers 3 & 5
This article first appeared in the April 12, 2017 DPSAC News
According to a letter from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) dated February 16, 2017, NBIB background investigations for Tier 3 and Tier 5 have been adjusted 'for reciprocity and re-investigations' until February 16, 2019.*
The adjustments are as follows:
Tier 3 -- Non Critical Sensitive Positions (ANACI) (Secret) is now good for 10 years; re-investigations will be due at 10 years. This was formerly known as Level 2.
Tier 5 -- Critical Sensitive Positions (SSBI) (Top Secret) is good for seven (7) years; re-investigations will be due at 7 years. This was formerly known as Level 3.
According to the ODNI letter, these changes were made to help NBIB eliminate or decrease their considerable backlog as of March 28, 2017.
*Over 95% of the federal government's background investigations are provided by NBIB.
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The 'Not To Exceed (NTE)' Date and the 'ID Badge Expiration' Date - a Primer
The NTE Date
The NTE date is an expiration date within the NED record itself, denoting
the date a person will be separating from the NIH.
NED displays the NTE field under "NIH Work Info," and can be viewed under "Legacy NED reports." Also, administrative staff can enter and change a person's NTE date in NED as an "Update" to the person's information.
Note: the NTE date is not a required field in NED and is completely unrelated to the ID badge expiration date. An NTE date may be the same as the ID badge expiration date, but only if the Administrative Officer/Administrative Technician (AO/AT) makes it the same in NED.
DPSAC cautions administrators to make sure the NTE date is entered accurately. If they are not certain of the date, they should not include it in NED.
Important: NED usually deactivates records containing an NTE date the day after the NTE date. NED deactivation results in loss of NIH services including the disabling of a person's ID badge for physical access and NIH network access/e-mail.
ID Badge Expiration Date
The ID Badge expiration date is the expiration date of a person's ID badge and can be found in NED under "NIH Services Info." The badge expiration date has no impact on the person's NIH network account access (e-mail, etc.).
Typically, an HHS ID badge (Personal Identity Verification or 'PIV' card) has a life cycle of five (5) years, after which the badge must be renewed. NED automatically generates a badge renewal notice 42 days prior to the badge expiration date.
When an Administrative Officer requests an ID badge in NED for individuals identified as short term staff (at NIH less than six [6] months), summer students or foreign nationals, NED will automatically generate the request for a Restricted Local Access (RLA) Badge.
RLA badges issued for these three classifications have their own lifecycles: RLA badge issued to foreign nationals are valid for 3 years; RLA badges issued to short-term staff are valid for a maximum of 6 months; and, RLA badges issued to summer students are valid through September 30 of the year issued.
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Safety Corner Special
Beware NIHers! Don't be the Victim of a Scam
(Part IV - The "Yes" Scam)
Special Safety Awareness Campaign Warns the NIH Workforce About Ongoing Scams
In light of recent scam attempts on NIH employees, the ORS Division of Police prepared a safety awareness campaign to alert the NIH workforce to five scams that are currently making the news and in some instances, directly impacting NIH workers.
Scams are as old as mankind and they continue to thrive and evolve. The Internet age has enabled scammers to operate without coming face to face with potential victims.
The "Yes" Scam
Many of us have heard warnings about a "Can you hear me?" scam. But just how does this one work? Will you really lose money if someone records you saying "Yes" to a basic question?
Consumer watchdogs report that some fraudsters are pretending to be calling from a cruise line. Or a home security service. Or maybe the caller pretends to be associated with Social Security benefits somehow.
The conversation can start out innocently enough with phrases like "Are you the lady of the house?" or "Are you the homeowner?"
Or they're asking a lot lately: "Can you hear me?"
Many variations are being used in robo-calls to get a consumer to engage and say "Yes," according to the consumer watchdog groups. A recorded call could be setting you up to generate proof - you said 'Yes' after all - that you signed up for a service.
According to Adam Levin, chairman and founder of CyberScout and author of "Swiped," the "say 'Yes' trick" is just another example of how creative robo-callers and crooks have become by exploiting and tweaking a famous advertising line from Verizon, which asked "Can You Hear Me Now?"
"The caller begins the conversation by asking 'Can you hear me?'" Levin said. "If and when you answer 'Yes,' the fraudster is off to the races. They simply combine the recording with other personal information they have gathered from or about you, including credit card information."
Even if they don't have your banking information, the scammer might play back a person's "Yes" remarks and try to intimidate you into paying up, according to the Better Business Bureau.
"The sad thing is that it can be really effective in trapping the consumer into paying for something they're not getting the benefit of," said Melanie Duquesnel, president and CEO of the Better Business Bureau Serving Eastern Michigan.
Think of some kind of subscription type services that might ding your account each month.
"The difficulty is that the consumer may have hung up on the caller thinking they hadn't done anything wrong," Duquesnel said.
The consumer could unknowingly be confirming that the phone number connects with a live person and that 'Yes' makes the phone number ripe to sell as a lead, according to a spokesperson for the Federal Trade Commission.
The lists might be sold to fraudsters or even regular businesses.
"The answer 'Yes' by itself is not valuable enough for you to be defrauded," said Jan Volzke, vice president of reputation data at Hiya, which offers an app that provides its users with caller ID and spam protection services. Hiya also monitors unknown calls throughout databases to track activity of scammers and others.
To cause real problems, scammers would need more data such as a matching list of credit card information about you or other data. And he doubts that these callers have all that data just yet.
Stay alert!
If you believe you are being targeted by a scam, don't give out any personal identifying information. Contact the organization the caller is allegedly representing and verify the authenticity of the call.
If you have any questions about scams, please contact Mike McGraw, Intelligence Coordinator, NIH Police at 301-496-9862 or mcgraw@mail.nih.gov.
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Q. Can Administrative Officers (AOs) make fingerprinting appointments for badge applicants at an NIH Enrollment and Badge Issuance facility?
A. Yes. AOs often help applicants with the PIV process by making fingerprinting appointments for them. AOs can contact the DPSAC helpdesk (301-402-9755 or orspersonnelsecurity@mail.nih.gov) to arrange an appointment at another NIH Enrollment and Badge Issuance facility.
Q. Do I need to enter a new PIN if I forget my old PIN, or can I re-use my old PIN?
A. There is no limit to the number of times one can use the same PIN. PINs never expire. You can reset your PIN using the same sequence of digits every time you do a reset.
If you have trouble remembering your PIN, you may want to use it as your code for retreiving your voicemails. This way, every time you retrieve your voicemails you will be using your PIN and will be less likely to forget it when the time comes to update your HHS ID Badge.
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Helpful Tips
Do not lend your ID badge to anyone! -- lending out your ID badge is prohibited. The issuance of ID badges is based on strict identity proofing and the determination of one's suitability for a specific position classification. To do so is a criminal offense!
'e-QIP Tips for New Federal Employees' guide now available on the DPSAC website -- to help prospective employees, contractors and affiliates navigate the background investigation questionnaires (e-QIP) process. The site's
main page contains two links (one under 'What's New' and one under 'Background Checks' on the left navigation panel) that connect to this useful slide presentation.
ALT cards -- need to be returned to the IC ALT card coordinator -
NOT to the Division of Personnel Security and Access Control (DPSAC).
All Building 31 badging services -- Enrollment, Badge Issuance and Customer Service -- now offered at a single, convenient location in 1B03. All badging services in Building 31 are available between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. DPSAC also offers Enrollment and Badging services in the South Lobby of the Clinical Center from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on weekdays.
Administrative Officers (AOs) who wish to obtain sponsor authority -- must complete the sponsor training (see:
http://www.ors.od.nih.gov/ser/dpsac/Training/Pages/administrators.aspx) and e-mail a copy of your signed certificate to the NIH HSPD-12 Program Office at
hspd12@od.nih.gov. Upon receipt of the certificate, the Program Office will authorize the AO as a Sponsor.
Please note: ONLY individuals with an Administrative Officer role in NED are eligible to be HHS ID Badge/PIV Card Sponsors.
ICs that want to add Lifecycle Work Station (LWS) operators to the approved roster -- send a written request to Richie Taffet at: taffetr@mail.nih.gov. Your request should include:
- the new operator's name
- his/her Institute or Center (IC)
- his/her NED number
- the operator's e-mail address, building/room and phone number
- the hours of operation of the Lifecycle Work Station
Once Mr. Taffet has approved the request, he will forward the name(s) to
HHSIdentityAdmins@deloitte.com to complete the approval process, add the name(s) to the LWS operator roster, and inform the IC that the individual is now approved to operate the LWS.
Need to make changes to the LWS operator directories? -- drop an e-mail to Lanny Newman,
newmanl@mail.nih.gov, and let him know what needs changing (e.g., adding new operators or LWS locations, removing operators, etc.). Remember, before a new operator can be added to the LWS directory, s/he must first be approved by Richie Taffet (see preceding Helpful Tip).
If an LWS is not available in your IC or your immediate area, and you work in the greater Bethesda or Rockville area -- please call 301-402-9755 to schedule an appointment with DPSAC, located in Building 31, Room 1B03 or in Building 10, South Lobby, Room 1C52.
If you work outside the Bethesda/Rockville area, contact your local badge issuance office. You can find contact information for all badge issuance offices at:
http://www.ors.od.nih.gov/ser/dpsac/Pages/contactinfo.aspx.
Know someone who should be reading DPSAC News? -- have the person contact Lanny Newman,
newmanl@mail.nih.gov, and ask to be put on the mailing list.
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NED Training Schedule for FY'17
Description:
This course provides an overview of the NED Portal and the NIH business functions it supports from the perspective of a NED Portal user with the Administrative Officer (AO) or Administrative Technician (AT) role. Upon completing the course, students will have a solid working knowledge of the NED Portal and be able to perform the following tasks: Register/Activate, Update, Modify, Transfer, Badge Renewal, and Deactivate.
The course will also familiarize students with other aspects of the NED Portal so they can: set their primary SAC coverage using Preferences; determine the status of a person's ID badge and/or network account request; look up and view information in a person's NED record; and, utilize NED reporting capabilities.
Intended Audience:
New or relatively inexperienced NED Portal users with the AO or AT role.
Prerequisites:
Basic personal computer skills and experience with web-based computer applications.
Reasonable Accommodations/Interpreting Services:
For deaf or hard-of-hearing individuals requiring interpreting services, please enter your request online in the Interpreting Services System at least five (5) days before the start of the class.
If you want to make a request, or have any questions regarding this service, you may contact the ORS Division of Amenities and Transportation Services (DATS) Interpreting Team at (301-402-8180). Individuals who need other reasonable accommodations to participate in any of the Center for Information Technology (CIT) Training courses should let CIT Training know at least 5 days prior to the class.
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A biweekly e-newsletter from the Office of Research Services, Division of Personnel Security and Access Control (ORS/DPSAC) to keep you informed as NIH rolls out "Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12" (HSPD-12) establishing a common identification standard to better safeguard NIH and its workforce.
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