*NEWS*TONER PIRATES TARGET BUSS/CHURCHES

Toner News Mobile Forums Latest Industry News *NEWS*TONER PIRATES TARGET BUSS/CHURCHES

Date: Thursday May 3, 2007 11:44:00 am
Viewing 1 post (of 1 total)
  • Author
    Posts

  • Anonymous
    Inactive

    ‘Toner pirates’ target businesses, churches
    PAYSON ROUND UP ARIZONA
    May 
    2007 Copier owners beware. A fraudulent company may be targeting local
    charitable organizations and businesses seeking exaggerated payments
    for office products.”Toner pirates,” as they are referred by members of
    the copier industry, call businesses, churches and charitable
    organizations looking for information so that they can send a phony
    bill or make an overpriced transaction with an unwitting volunteer or
    employee.Brent Lakatos, co-owner of Beeline Business Equipment first
    realized there was a scheme going on in Payson when his clients called,
    inquiring about a $500 bill for toner from a company with a similar
    name to his.”Someone called me and asked why I charged them $500 for
    toner,” he said. “It wasn’t my company, though. They’ll use two words
    from a real company’s name and change the third, so it looks like a
    real business,” Lakatos said.Lakatos said he has seen invoices that
    were sent to his clients with a name meant to purposely be mistaken for
    his business’ name. The invoices look authentic and so volunteers or
    new employees often submit the bill to be paid, or even pay the bill,
    never realizing that it is completely fake.The company will often send
    past-due invoices, hoping that an unwitting employee will rush into
    payment because the bill is deemed “late.”Another tactic the “toner
    pirates” use is calling organizations with a lot of employee turnover
    or volunteer employees and seek out office equipment model numbers or
    the name of a purchasing agent so that they can send a bill that has
    the correct information on it, increasing the chances that it will
    mistakenly gets paid.”Never give out any information, unless you’re
    completely sure to whom you’re speaking,” Lakatos said.The toner
    pirates often send products, even though they are generic and are many
    times much smaller than they should be, Lakatos said.”There is no
    technical fraud,” Lakatos said. “If a business receives a product,
    there’s nothing anyone can do.”Lakatos said fraudulent companies
    usually target larger cities, but have hit smaller towns like Payson
    about every six months. Their success can mainly be attributed to the
    lack of information that new employees or volunteers have.”No bottle of
    toner will ever cost more than $125,” Lakatos said. “There isn’t one
    out there. Some color cartridges are a little more, but will never be
    more than $225.”Lakatos said business owners should pay attention to
    who is requesting information and not to give out model numbers for fax
    machines and copiers or names of office employees, if there is a
    question about who is asking for the information.”They’ll sound
    professional and they’ll use the name of a manager or president and
    call different branches,” Lakatos said. “They will sometimes get angry
    or rude over the phone, if they are not given the information they are
    seeking.”Lakatos said that local churches have been hit recently, as
    well as charitable organizations.

Viewing 1 post (of 1 total)
  • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.