ASI is urging everyone in the promotional products industry to be on alert for potential scams after a small handful of suppliers were targeted by thieves posing as distributors and using stolen credit cards or a stolen ASI number to place orders.

In the last few weeks, suppliers received fraudulent orders for more than $10,000 each, with the fraudster sending purchase orders that listed authentic ASI numbers combined with incorrect contact information that was extremely similar to that of authentic distributors. To avoid compromising ongoing law enforcement investigations, ASI is not releasing exact details of the scams. However, most involve crooks posing as distributors, with fake websites, using stolen credit cards with separate billing and shipping addresses to place rush orders of blank products.

ASI urges all suppliers to be on the lookout and to ask their back-office order processor to diligently check all order info and consider adding extra review steps to their ordering process. Below are best practices to follow when verifying orders:

• Check each email address and look for misspellings or variations on familiar company names. Watch for additional letters, words or numbers in the email address of the sender placing the order.
• Verify all contact information, especially the phone number, email and addresses.
• To confirm, call the sender's corporate office.
• Beware of any last-minute orders for blanks claiming the client “has their own imprinter” and take extra precautions to verify if the sender switches the shipping address at the last minute.
• Verify a distributor has a credit history through ASI Connect, a prospecting tool that offers accurate and up-to-date credit info and demographics on industry distributors, including contact info and reliable reports on paying habits, disputes and more.

If you have been or are targeted, report the fraud to your local police and/or report online crimes and credit card fraud to the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3). Also report any unauthorized use of your credit card to your credit card company or bank.

If you have questions about your ASI membership, please contact ASI at 800-546-1350, and press No. 1 for customer service.