Attorney General Philip McLaughlin issued a warning to New Hampshire consumers and businesses today to be aware of callers who are posing as the regular supplier of a company's business products, when in fact they are not. New Hampshire businesses are reporting to the New Hampshire Consumer Protection Bureau with increased frequency that their employees have been targeted by non-legitimate callers posing as that particular company's office products supplier. The callers will ask the employee to verify a serial number of an office copier for purposes of sending additional supplies such as toner. It is not until the supplies arrive, accompanied by an invoice, that the identity error is discovered. Efforts to return the products are thwarted by claims that the order was authorized, and often times a tape recording is played back, indicating that the employee said "Yes," when the question posed to the employee was not related to the actual ordering of additional supplies. Another fraudulent practice used by the callers is to then claim that if the product is going to be returned, the business will be charged a restocking fee.

In order to avoid any potential economic loss, Attorney General McLaughlin suggests that business owners implement preventive measures, such as ensuring that employees be made aware of who supplies their office products. The employee should ask any caller what company he or she represents and verify the information with a manager or owner to ensure that the caller is in fact the business's supplier of that particular product. McLaughlin further advised that businesses always use written purchase orders.

Victims of these fraudulent business practices should contact the Consumer Protection Bureau at 33 Capitol Street, Concord, New Hampshire, or call (603) 271-3641.