The con attempts aimed at promo are continuing.

On Wednesday, Dec. 7, a huckster posing as a buyer for Dallas-area Facility Solutions Group (FSG), an actual company, contacted a distributor based in the Upper Midwest with a request for 10,000 hot and cold tumblers. The scam artist offered net 30 payment terms and requested a credit application, with a quote and lead time.

Still, the savvy distributor* quickly sniffed out that the supposed order was bogus and never took steps to fulfill the order. For one thing, the request came from a “gmail” email rather than a proper professional/company address.

The message had tells, too. It was addressed to “Dear Sales,” was asking for a round number’s worth of products (10,000 exactly), and added the line that the buyer was “interested in working with your company” – generic phrasing, rather than saying the distributorship’s name or the name of a person working at the firm.

“It was an easy one to spot,” the distributor told ASI Media.

This Promo Insiders podcast has tips that will help industry companies identify scam attempts and avoid being conned.

The real FSG, which specializes in electrical/lighting solutions, had nothing to do with the request/scam.

The scam attempt followed a similar pattern to others that have proliferated against promotional products distributors in 2022, leading some industry executives to believe that an organized racket (or rackets) is specifically targeting promo.

“I don’t want others to go through what we did.” A #promoproducts distributor that was recently the victim of a scam -- to the tune of more than $60K -- shares lessons learned. https://t.co/coVmrf2e9g @asicentral @ASI_MBell

— Chris Ruvo (@ChrisR_ASI) September 28, 2022

The cons typically center on a crook posing as a buyer for a real entity – be it a company, university, even a utility – and requesting through email products that have ranged from drinkware to speakers. The request for “10,000” of something has been a consistent theme, though the hoodwinkers haven’t always asked for that amount.

Sometimes the criminals want branded products, sometimes blanks. Regardless, if the order is fulfilled, they will never pay for the goods. What they will do is sell the items on the black market.

Certain scammers have better disguised their approaches than others, giving the impression of validity, and thereby tricked distributors into fulfilling orders. One distributor sustained a loss of more than $100,000 on an order of mugs. Another distributor was out more than $60,000 on an order of speakers.

With scam attempts continuing and even possibly growing, industry companies should remain vigilant and follow best practices for identifying potential cons.

*At distributors’ requests, ASI Media is withholding names and certain details out of respect for companies and in an effort not to compromise any investigations.