To the editor:
Your article (July 26) detailing Jessica Giles’ talk to the Rotary Club about BEC (business email compromise scams) reminded me of an experience I had in the summer of 1969, one illustrating that such scams are not entirely new.
I had taken a summer job at a paper distributor in the printing district in lower Manhattan, New York City. I had not realized that the school where I was teaching wouldn’t pay me during the summer and I needed some income. I already knew something about printing and paper.
The firm had me work in the order department. One day I received a call from another paper distributor asking if we had any 8 ½ x 11 Xerox paper in house. At the time, Xerox paper was a specialized, coated paper and was extremely expensive. The other distributor had none on hand but had received an order for 10 cases. I told the caller he was in luck; we had just received 10 cases. I asked a series of questions and as someone new, repeated several of them to be sure. The other firm would send their truck over at 2 p.m.
After I hung up, I realized I didn’t have the contact’s name so I called the firm back. In time, I was speaking to the company president who said they had not placed the order and I should talk to my boss. “There is an epidemic of Xerox paper theft right now,” he told me.
The police waited for the truck to pick up the paper but it never arrived. Despite my protestation that it was likely my inexperience that prevented the theft, I was a hero for about a week — all because I asked a lot more questions than someone else might have.
Frank Bolton
Orient and Brooklyn, N.Y.
