Recently one of our offices became the target of an old scam often referred to as the "toner phoner" scam. Fortunately the office recognized the signs and did not authorize the order, but this incident serves as a good reminder for all of us.

The Fidelity National Title office in Arroyo Grande, Calif. was called by a woman named Lori. She claimed to be from a well known supply center calling to inform the office the price of their toner was going up by $60 from $439 to $499 and they should order toner now before the increase takes effect.

Shortly after that, another call was received where they asked for the office's fax number and shipping address. They faxed over a completed Order Confirmation just like this:

Rhonda Bowen, Fidelity's receptionist, received the Order Confirmation and rather than sign it, she called their representative at the supply center to confirm the increase. Turns out Rhonda's instincts were right. No one from the supply center had called the office.

Instead a telemarketer had called trying to obtain approval from the office to send toner. Being persistent, they called back about an hour after they faxed over the Order Confirmation looking for the signed form. Needless to say, no one signed it or faxed it back.