BBB warns about phony toner scam

The BBB of Northern Indiana is warning businesses about a scam involving fake orders for printer toner.

In a recent incident, an individual called a local business claiming to be from "WIT." The caller asked for the name of the person who handled their shipping supplies, hoping to use that name for authorization on an invoice to be sent after the unordered product is shipped.

Because the business was victimized by this scam a few years ago and lost $400 for poor-quality toner it had not ordered (at an inflated price), and an invoice that followed, a red flag came up.

In this particular incident, the number on Caller ID was 818-742-6049. When the business tried calling the number, it would not go through. BBB staff tried the number and got no ringing or dial tone. After waiting for the line to pick up for a period, there is a beep following by a pause, then a beep again. The area code is from the San Fernando Valley, if it is even a real number.

To keep this from happening to your business, BBB recommends the following tips for dealing with phone solicitors:

Inform Your Staff: Make sure your employees understand who is responsible for ordering and confirming orders for office supplies and other purchases. Train new employees to be in the habit of quickly transferring those calls to the appropriate members of your staff.
 

Keep Records: When you receive an unwanted sales call, ask for the name of the company the representative works for and his or her name. Record this information along with the time and the date of the call.
 

Get on the Do Not Call List: To register your business phone numbers.