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NotaGeek
08-19-2008, 06:22 PM
Ok, so I am not normally one to publicly vent ... but I had to share this with you folks. So, I have spent the better part of today with our company's attorney and controller filing a fraud complaint with the Washington State Attorney General...

Back at the beginning of June some random woman called in and talked to our office admin assistant (who coincidentally is now my assistant) and she claimed to be a "friend" of our controller -- knew his full name and contact information and that he gave her my assistants information because she is the person that does the office supply ordering.

Well, this person claimed to work for a company called Tornado Office Systems, that was relocating to Arkansas and they had to unload as many of their supplies as possible before their move. They offered "deep discounts on bulk supplies" ... and the deal sounded too good to be true. And we ALL know that rule about if it seems to good to be true...

So my assitant asked for a quote on the minimum orders so she could get approval on them ... and the woman on the phone quoted a few items at gross or by the case or 1/2 case with a number of approximately $230 ... the quote never came to my assistant and she forgot about it. Well fast forward 3 weeks later and a shipment arrives of 9 boxes and 30 lbs of supplies ... with no invoice information.

Well said assistant just sorts the items and stores them thinking the invoice went to finance and they approved the order.

Here's the scam ... we got an invoice from the company in the mail yesterday for $8614.59 for the order! Yes, all those sale prices weren't by the box or gross as quoted ... they were by ITEM. You can imagine my assistant freaking out and assuming she would be fired...

So being the good boss I am, I start researching the company (go ahead and Google them!) and they have tons of complaints for the exact same fraud ... and I called the WA Attorney General and they instantly knew the company and they fraud ...

They send tons of supplies and 2 months later they bill you, assuming that it will either automatically go to accounts payable and never get to the person that "ordered them" or the company will think they have no recourse because they have started using the supplies and it's too late to complain.

SO ... I called the company and they called me back and when I told them we were sending most of the items back because we never actually placed the order and never even issued a purchase order, which is required for anything over $500 they accused ME of fraud! AMAZING.

To all you office working folks ... beware!

PirateLover
08-19-2008, 06:28 PM
Wow, what a scam. I am glad you caught it, good luck fighting them!

offwego
08-19-2008, 06:54 PM
Wow that is bold! The "internet listing" ones are really popular here.

What a waste of everyones time dealing with this. Hope you get it resolved quickly.

crazypoohbear
08-19-2008, 08:43 PM
I get tons of calls every week from "sales" looking for the "person who orders office supplies"
OR they want the name and title of the purchaser
or my personal fav. the Buddy call that starts with "HI, nice to talk with you again "I'm calling to get the reading on the copier" Can you get me that number, I seem to have misplaced the model number" thanks Hon"
I'll play and ask "which copier?" "didn't I give you that a few minutes ago?" Oh, hang on for a minute(Then put them on hold til they hang up)
I have told the "sales people" that
1) we don't use computers :D
2) we use an abacus :)
3) we make our own computer printer supplies
4) We just received a huge shipment from you where do I send the check?

SteveL
08-19-2008, 08:57 PM
This is a scam that I encounter at least twice a year.
The caller usually gets me and tells me that he talked to Joe XXXXXXX (our president and CEO) who suggested they contact me.
The speil always goes like this: "Hi, my name is Dr. Smith and I was taking to Joe XXXX. My brother owned a shipping supplies company and he recently died and I'm trying to settle his estate. I have all of these items to firesale....." and it keeps going for a while.
First off, our presdent's name is Giuseppe and nobody in their right mind would ever refer to him as "Joe".
One day a load of tape appeared and it turns out it was ordered by a clerk that got the call, someone with no authorization to buy so much as a paper clip. There was no return address or invoice with the shipment, so I called UPS and gave them the shipper's account number. Ups gave me the name of the account holder and their address, then I just sent most of it back. We never heard another word from them.
Now when I get the call I cut them off before they get into the sad tale, extend my condolences because I know their brother just died, and they promptly hang up on me.
Most time you can tell it is younger voice and you know these losers could never hold a real job.
If you don't pay, what can they really do? Beleive me, they don't want to expose themselves in court and they have nothing in the way of a signed PO as evidence that your company actually placed an order. They just figure they make enough from those that blindly pay the invoice to cover whatever losses they incur from someone who refuses to pay it.

MegaDisney
08-19-2008, 09:03 PM
Michael, no wonder you have been working through lunch!

I hope everything works out! Let us know what happens!

Dakota Rose
08-19-2008, 11:09 PM
My grandmother used to handle all the purchasing and accounting for my mom's business. She would often tell sales-people offering a "great deal" or "huge savings": "You will save me the most money by going away/hanging up." :D

amd780
08-23-2008, 04:36 PM
I'm so sorry you had to go through this. My company had a similar problem this past week. Our IT/maintenance supervisor was apparently sent an offer from a lighting company for free light bulbs, and sent away for them. Just last week, our staff accountant received a hefty bill for the "free" samples! One of the other members of my team had to write a certified letter telling these creeps that we were not going to pay them! :mad:

MississippiDisneyFreak
08-23-2008, 05:37 PM
What a scam, I'm amazed they've not been completely shut down...on a smaller personal note, a few years ago I had a phone call from someone claiming to be from the Benevolent Order of Police asking for a donation. Supposedly they give the money donated to families of slain officers....well, since I work for a law enforcement agency I told them to send me further information in the mail and I would check it out...I told the caller that I do not give to solicitors over the phone because I like to verify companies first...well I got something in the mail alright, a bill...I laughed and threw it in the garbage....a few weeks later I got a letter from them threatening to turn me over to a collection agency..."How can a collection agency collect on a donation, it is not a debt it is a voluntary donation....and one I never agreed to in the first place....well, it turns out the company is one of these that only gives 1% of donations to the cause they claim to be fronting...its a scam, but a legal one however when I wrote a letter to them and threatened action against them they finally left me alone....so beware of "charities" also...do your homework and make sure your donation is really going where it supposed to before you donate.

PAYROLL PRINCESS
08-23-2008, 06:03 PM
I love those kind of phone calls. I usually just ask "are you a paper pirate?" Needless to say they usually hang up on me!

tinkerbell04
08-23-2008, 09:00 PM
Im so sorry that you had to go through all of this, good luck! And thanks for spreading the word :)

MNNHFLTX
08-24-2008, 01:15 PM
Wow. It's unreal that there are people out there who actually get away with this because the person receiving the products doesn't realize it's a scam and thinks they have no recourse but to pay up. Thank goodness you are more savvy than that. They messed with the wrong person!

brownie
08-25-2008, 09:34 AM
Always a good idea to get everything in writing. It sounds like some systems to prevent this may have been circumvented on your end due to the nature of the scam. The good news is that it's not as likely to happen again.