Okay. I’m responsible for ordering the Xerox supplies in my small office. I order them directly from Xerox, and I typically place a large order once or twice a month. I’m fairly savvy and I can detect sales calls or scam calls right off the bat most of the time. And as we’re in the middle of a large project right now to print company development guides, I’ve been placing at least one to two orders per week. That’s why this particular scan nearly got past me when a scam has never gotten past me in all of my years of working as an administrative assistant (okay, all four, but still).
HOWEVER, you anal-sucking fucknuggets, do NOT fucking TELL me that you’re from Xerox when you call to ‘confirm’ an order. If you do that, then you know what? I might fall for your fucking tripe. When I have an outstanding order with Xerox, I’m awaiting delivery. Do you understand what that means, chickpea? It means that if you TELL me that you’re from Xerox and that you’re calling to confirm an order…I ASSUME that you’re calling to confirm the fucking order I PLACED WITH XEROX! NOT to sell me overpriced toner from a goddamn order that I don’t fucking want! And guess what? If I’d not realized that you were a scam before I confirmed our ‘address’ with you, my ass would have been in a fucking sling by my boss. You could have cost me my job, you fuckers, something that I can NOT afford. But fuck, as long as you’re selling your products, who cares if I lose my job?
Don’t fucking lie to me. Tell me the truth so I can answer you truthfully as to whether or not I want your product. And you know what? I was way too nice to you on the phone. Try your little scam one more time and I won’t be so nice. I did customer service for a credit card company. I learned a few tricks from our cardholders and I will NOT hesitate to use them on you.
We got suckered by this. My AA was very embarassed. Not her fault though. Fortunately we charged it to our corporate credit card, and simply notified them that the charge was fraudulent.
Oh, ava, I’m glad you caught it, but to expect scam artists to tell the truth?
Sweetie, I think that’s asking a bit much. Perhaps you can set up a codeword with your Xerox rep so when they call to confirm the order you can tell it’s really them?
Same thing happened to us last month! They even had the full first and last name of our supply manager, so it was VERY convincing. He went ahead with it, and ordered, thinking that it was all set, but then it turned out that we got nailed with extra charges for shipping, packing, weight, overnight service, AND a “one time new customer charge”. Total bill was for $500! It was charged to out corporate card, so just like Scylla we reported it, and all was ok.
Scam artist tried to get me to “confirm” an order today too. Fuck them. Usually they hang up as soon as I ask where they’re calling from though. I can’t believe they get enough fools to make any money.
Even though it takes a little effort on your part, always indicate a purchase order number for every order you make. For example, if I placed an order today, I might use 03052301 as the P.O. number. If one of the scammers call and want to “confirm” an order, this is one piece of information they will not know.
I worked for a large lumberyard and the boss required a P.O. number on everything that came into the building, including not just merchandise, but also advertising materials, POS displays, and everything else that a vendor might want to send. We got no more surprises after that.
You know, I bet Xerox would be happy to hear about this little scam. They probably have a bunch of bored and hungry lawyers on retainer waiting for this kind of thing.
Looks like this scam has been altered a bit. The old way was for someone to call up and say they’re from the copier service center (or some such place) and verify the model number of your copier. My standard answer was, “It’s a Canon 666. It’s a helluva copier.” or, better yet, “Fuck you.”
Damn, I never heard of this. I wish they would call me. I’d make a point of placing a huge order…a years worth…and then laughing and making farting noises until they hung up.
Man I thought it was just me. This scam has followed me through several businesses, now my own. Luckily I have several ways of stopping this scam.
I give my Office supply people a PO number every first of the month. That way all my orderes for that month come with the same PO number.
If a scam order gets through, write down the name of the company that shipped it, and put up a vendor list for your shipping department. This company would fall under the "Do Not Accept Shipments from “Assholes, Inc.”
Never give out your copeir/printer models over the phone unless you’re absolutely sure of whom you’re talking to.
When I worked for a copier company (a Sharp/Konica/Panasonic dealer) I once got a call from a toner pirate saying “Hi, this is Bob Jones (the name of our sales manager) and it appears that you are due for another toner shipment.” The funny thing was that I was looking at Bob Jones walking down the hallway. You have to be a pretty stupid toner pirate to try to scam the legitimate dealers.
The way our company dealt with it was to assign numbers to all of our equiment that were independent of the serial number or model numbers (we put a sticker with the number under the glass). We trained all of our clients to use this number when ordering since it meant something to our company but not any other. You might ask your Xerox rep if they have something similar. Or at least just ask to have a dedicated rep for your account so you know that unless it’s “Jane” calling, then it’s not legit.
. I still hold out hope that one day…
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