TONER-PHONER SCAM HITS LOUISIANA

[Anonymous]

http://www.thetowntalk.com/article/20090925/BUSINESS/90925001
TONER-PHONER SCAM HITS LOUISIANA
Beware
the “toner phoners.” Officials from the local Better Business Bureau
are warning businesses of a scam where people masquerading as
representatives from office equipment and supply companies try to sell
inferior products at inflated prices.A customer of an Alexandria
company, Cunningham Business Systems, was a recent target.”We’re trying
to alert our businesses,” said Robin Guenard, director of operations
for the BBB Serving Central Louisiana and the Ark-La-Tex. “Let them
know this is out there, there are some calls being made, but it is a
scam so be aware.””I don’t want to see anybody get hurt by something as
ridiculous as what these people are trying to do,” said Patrick
Cunningham, owner of Cunningham Business Systems.

The way the
scam works, a business gets a call from someone claiming to be with
their equipment or supply vendor, and asking questions about the make
and model of their equipment and what kind of supplies, such as toner,
they need.The scammer then offers to sell products at discounted
prices, usually claiming that they are liquidating stock and pressuring
the business to make a decision right away. When the product arrives,
it is usually inferior and overpriced, but some businesses may
unwittingly sign for and use the product and thus end up paying for
it.In Cunningham’s case, the caller claimed to be from the company’s
satellite office in Ball. The customer was suspicious because they knew
Cunningham does not have an office in Ball and did not recognize the
caller. They hung up and called Cunningham’s office.

That,
Cunningham said, is exactly what businesses should do if they have any
doubts that someone calling them and claiming to be their vendor is
legitimate.”Any time someone calls you and wants information about your
equipment, or do you need toner … if they’re doing business with you,
they should have a record of your equipment, your lease, whether your
contract includes toner,” Cunningham said. “If you don’t recognize the
person who’s calling, get their number and say you’ll call them back.
You will never get that number, and they’ll have every excuse in the
world why you need to do this now.”Better yet, call the person you do
know before you give any information. If you call your vendor and say
this is what’s going on, you’ll find they didn’t call you.”

Andy
Fisher, president of the BBB Serving Central Louisiana and the
Ark-La-Tex, echoed that thought.”Any type of telemarketer, you should
be very careful about what you tell them,” Fisher said. “Unless you
initiate the call yourself, you should not give them personal or
company information. You just need to be very careful about who you’re
dealing with. If you don’t know them, you shouldn’t deal with them.”

[Author]

October 2, 2009 at 2:11 PM