Three women have been barred from operating in Iowa due to alleged toner fraud.
Iowa Public Radio reported () All three women, Brittany Hertsch, Krystle Lester and Sandra Steinmetz from California, have been told that if they are found to be selling or “marketing” toner for printers and copiers, they could “face criminal charges”, and they are also barred from selling office supplies and any other products.
The women set themselves up as a “business” with Hertsch as the head of Central Supply Solutions and her half sister, Lester, ran Elite Supplies, while their aunt Steinmetz owns Central Supply Center. They were suspected of attempting to “scam Iowa libraries and businesses” by charging extremely high prices for printer toner even though it had not been ordered.
Steve St. Clair, Consumer Protection Division at Iowa Attorney General’s Office, commented: “This type of scam used to be much more common. I had thought that it was mostly a scheme of the past. Clearly this is a reminder that we need to remain vigilant and keep our eyes open for other instances in which somebody’s kind of recycling what used to be prominent and now has become much less so.”
It is not yet know if any of the businesses invoiced actually paid, but if they did they will be “entitled to a refund”. The order only stops the women trading in Iowa, but they are known to have “contacted public libraries in Kansas and Illinois and a retirement community in Nebraska”. Lester was contacted by Iowa Public Radio by email, which she responded to by saying “no comment thanks.”