If someone calls to sell you printer toner, don't bite

Recently, several offices on campus have been contacted about buying toner for Canon and Ricoh machines. Anyone who receives such a call should hang up or forward the person to Kathy Tadlock in Copier Support at (360) 650-3545. These companies are running a scam, hoping to find an unsuspecting person who will agree to receive an order.

If you have a copier/printer that is supplied by Copier Support, all supplies are included in the per-copy charge you pay. There is never any need to buy supplies; the Copier Support office supplies everything. These companies are called toner phoners and periodically crop up, randomly calling university numbers until they find someone willing to talk to them. The current company calling around and targeting government customers is IDS.

Several articles online warn about the dangers of toner scams. This one has some helpful tips.