As we work in this industry, we witness first hand in how toner pirates do their best to trick our customers into thinking they are their vendor. Do not fall victim to toner pirates. Toner pirates are individuals that call your office either claiming to be your vendor for toner supplies and try to gain access to information regarding your equipment. 

Toner Pirates usually work in groups and may use a three call approach.  The first call is innocent 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 Stalin with [dealer name] [or alternately "the warehouse for your current supplier] 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 the opportunity to stock up now before the price goes up" The third call is to verify the order and get your agreement to it. This is but one example, they use many different ruses to gain the information they want.

For those who have fallen prey, what they get is a big surprise.  The price can be four to five times the normal price and in some instances the amount of toner in the cartridge is half what it is supposed to be.

If you receive supplies and a invoice from a toner pirate, you can still protect yourself by:                                                      

   * DO NOT PAY THE INVOICE

   * Notify the company that the supplies were way over the Fair Market price and that you

     are giving them 30 days to have the merchandise picked up or you will dispose of it 

    * Have specific individual(s) responsible for ordering supplies

    * Train all employees who answer the phone

    * Don't give equipment information, like make, model or serial numbers, over the phone.

    * Do business with known companies or ask for references

    * Issue a written purchase order with authorized signature and purchase order number

    * Instruct supplier to put purchase order number on its invoice and bill of lading.

    * Don't pay bills unless they match your documentation

    * Merchandise must conform to bill of lading or refuse it

    * Don't pay for - or return - unordered merchandise