Beware of toner scams

Recently offices on campus have been contacted about buying toner for Canon and Ricoh machines. If you receive such a call, hang up or forward the person to Kathy Tadlock, Copier Support, x3545. These companies are running a scam, hoping to find an unsuspecting person in an office that will agree to receive an order. They often will drop names of people who work at WWU into the conversation to sound legitimate.

If you have a copier/printer that is supplied by Copier Support (Ricoh or Canon), all supplies are included in the per copy charge you pay. There is never any need to buy supplies – the Copier Support office provides everything. The companies that are calling are called toner phoners and periodically crop up, randomly calling university numbers until they find someone willing to talk to them. The current companies calling and targeting government/state customers are IDS or Systems, Inc.

There are several Internet articles warning about the dangers of toner scams. The Federal Trade Commission has published detailed information concerning this scam at https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/guidance/avoiding-office-supply-scams .