Handle a bill for office supplies no one ordered

Hold payment on a supply invoice until you can match it to an order someone approved. The FTC names fake invoices and unordered goods as risks for small businesses and nonprofits, and it recommends checking invoices against approved purchase records. Your first question is who could have placed the order.

By Junk Mail Magic. Updated October 2, 2026.

Trace the order

Ask the people who buy supplies or approve purchases whether they placed this order. Note each answer and the date you asked.
Search purchase orders, card statements and receiving logs for the vendor name, the items and the amounts on the bill.
Check whether any goods arrived. If a delivery came, keep it and its packing slip together with the invoice.
Compare the invoice's account number, order number and billing contact with your records. Record any mismatch as a fact to follow up. It does not prove anything about the sender by itself.

Keep the papers together

First establish that the shipment was unordered: check for an authorized purchase, standing order, subscription, gift or misdelivery. A forgotten order is different from goods no one ordered. The FTC says businesses do not have to pay for or return unordered merchandise and may keep or use it.

Keep the invoice, envelope, packing slip and purchasing check together. If a real order is found, use the normal payment approval process. If a demand remains disputed or you suspect mail fraud, preserve the evidence for the responsible business contact and the appropriate report.

Accounts-payable worksheet

Example for your own use. Replace the bracketed details and review what you share.

Vendor name and address on invoice: [vendor name and address] Invoice number and amount: [invoice number], [amount] Date received: [date] People asked and their answers: [name]: [answer] Who authorized this order: [name or none found] Matching purchase order or receipt: [PO or receipt number, or none] Goods received: [yes / no] Where original papers are kept: [location] Decision and approver: [decision], [approver name]

Stop a repeat payment

Tell the mail opener and payment approver what the purchasing check established. A repeat invoice should be compared with that record, not paid merely because it looks overdue. Leave unresolved order or ownership questions marked for verification rather than treating lack of a purchase-order number alone as proof.

Official sources

Treat an unexpected package separately from junk-mail ads Check an advertisement formatted as an invoice Preserve a mailer after you paid a suspected scam Suspicious mail All practical mail guides

Keep personal records with the organization that handles them

Junk Mail Magic is for ordinary unwanted advertising. Use the official contact route in this guide for records, account changes or someone else’s correspondence.

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