Toner Pirates Telemarketing Fraud

Posted by Doing Better Business on Mar 20, 2021 8:00:00 PM

We have received reports that many of our customers are receiving telemarketing phone calls asking to confirm your equipment make, model, ID tags and contact person. This is a scam!  No one from Doing Better Business will ever call you for this type of information.  

Because over 97% of our customers have toner covered at no additional charge in their annual service agreement, we do not telemarket to solicit supply sales. 

Toner_PirateWe have a report of both National Copy Solutions and West Tech Distributors calling our customers. We are absolutely not affiliated with these organizations.

This Telemarketing Fraud has been going on for over 30 years to the point where these scammers are termed "Toner Phoners" and "Toner Pirates". 

The typical scam involves a "toner pirate."

They usually call twice within the month.  The first time to find out which  office equipment dealer you work with, what make and model copier you have and who is in charge of purchasing the toner.

The second call is where they misrepresent themselves as someone from our company.

Now it's simple.  They have your name, they know your equipment and they've got a story of a sale about to end.   They make it sound compelling and urgent.  It's easy to fall victim to this scam.

Then it happens; a toner shipment arrives with an inflated invoice far beyond what your company normally pays when ordering from us.  (Especially, if you normally do not have to pay anything additional for toner!!)

Toner_Invoice

One way to prevent this is to make your entire team aware that you do not pay additional money for toner.

Please remember Doing Better Business considers you part of our Family and we will never solicit sales over the phone.

Our team is dedicated to working with you one-on-one, in person. If someone is attempting to "phone sell" toner, set sail! It's a pirate!

Another way to prevent this, always confirm you are really speaking with a representative of Doing Better Business by simply telling the person you will call us back.   This may solicit some rude behavior from the person on the line, which will definitely let you know it is not someone from Doing Better Business.

Your satisfaction is our passion and we are here to help. If a "hawker", "pirate", or "toner phoner" calls, please contact us immediately.

You should also contact the Business Technology Association at  (800) 869-6688 for guidance and advice about reporting incidents to the proper authorities.

As members of the BTA, we closely adhere to their principles of service and integrity within the industry.

Let's end piracy and stop phony toner phoners! 

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Topics: toner, copier toner, toner pirates, telemarketing fraud, printer toner, toner phoners, toner fraud

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