Pirates in Your Office

You may not have been taken hostage by pirates on the high seas, but whether you know it or not you or your clients have been contacted by pirates – otherwise known as fraudulent telephone marketers and toner pirates – sales people attempting to sell vastly overpriced or counterfeit products.

They will use many different words and scripts to convince the listener that they are legitimate.  Counterfeiting and piracy costs the U.S. $200 billion to $250 billion each year.  Source:  Imaging Supplies Coalition.

Beware of Telemarketing Fraud

What kind of telephone pirate schemes are out there?

*  Charity Schemes

*  Credit Card, Credit Repair and Loan Schemes

*  Investment and Business Opportunity Schemes

*  Office Supply Schemes

You can get more information about these various scams on the U.S. Justice Department web site.

Toner Pirates usually work in groups and may use a three call approach.

The first call is innocuous enough to an unsuspecting individual, they call “to verify the make and model” of your copier/printer, sometimes using the line of “our computers went down and we need to verify this information.”  Or “the file on the copier ‘up-front’ accidentally got deleted and we need to input the information again.”  Someone in the office not familiar with the supplies arrangement could easily provide this key information unknowingly. It will be used in the second call.

The second call will usually be “Hi, I am Joe with [dealer name] and the manufacturer for your [the information gathered on the first call is inserted here] has just announced a large price increase on the toner for your copier and we wanted to give you opportunity to stock up now before the price goes up.”

The third call is to verify the order and get your agreement to it.

How to Avoid Being Scammed

(1.)  Be wary of anyone who calls claiming to be from your office supply company and offers you a “last chance” to buy copier paper, toner or other supplies at the current price before it increases. It could be a “paper pirate” or “toner phoner” working for a company that has no connection with your regular supplier.

(2.)  Ask for the person’s name, the company name, and a phone number. Then contact your regular supplier to verify the story.

(3.)  Promises of cheapest prices may not always be true. Shop around with companies you know and trust for the best deals.

(4.) Even if no one at your business places an order, you might receive a bogus invoice for supplies that were sent anyway or that were never delivered at all.

(5.)  Designate specific people in your company to handle office supply purchases. They should know who your regular suppliers are and control the ordering process.

(6.)  Before paying invoices, the person who is responsible for your bills should confirm that the supplies were ordered, who they came from, that they have been delivered, and that they were the correct brands.

(7.)  If the supplier misrepresented itself or the goods, write the company a letter explaining why you are disputing the bill. Offer to send the supplies back if you received them, at the supplier’s expense. Keep a copy of the letter for documentation.

(8.)  Don’t be pressured into paying. Fraudulent companies often use threats of collection or legal action to get payment.

Report paper pirates and toner phoners to law enforcement agencies.

The Business Technology Association can provide more tips about these scams and welcomes information about fraudulent suppliers.

Do you know someone who has been called by a toner pirate?  Help our readers by sharing your wisdom and experiences in the Comment section below.