What a world we are living in. Everywhere we look there is someone trying to steal, cheat, or defraud us as Americans. From our emails to our business dealings, our trucking business has run amok with fraud of every sort. Brokers are being scammed or hacked, loads are stolen, fake MC numbers, MC numbers stolen and used by scammers, fake loads being posted that are scams, we learn of new ones almost daily.
I started this blog months ago but due to the sheer volume of information and scams, I could write a book on it. Who knows, I may someday lol. I admin a Network of social media and Internet websites and fighting scams is our daily business. I get messages and posts daily about people that were scammed. They gave their information to someone they thought they trusted and it was used to steal their identity.
Even just today I was scammed. Some post requests from two of my groups stated that these people had scammed them or their friends/family. I must trust them. I can’t do the due diligence to verify they are telling the truth… it is impossible to do that. So, I immediately removed the scammers and then proceeded to remove and ban them from several of our groups.
I posted that our members need to be careful not to trust anyone on social media. This is something that I try to do regularly. Within 20 minutes, I started getting messages from many of our members whom I trust and communicate with regularly. Members that have done business with these guys. The scammer is the one posting about innocent members of our groups. What the hell? I had not seen this coming. I immediately try to correct and verify that this is the case. I send orders to my Admin Assistant to undo the actions and to unban the innocent parties.
What follows can only be described as a Clusterfuck. While I am trying to add back these loyal members who I thought were scammers.. my moderators and other admins are banning them. I spend the WHOLE day dealing with this crap. After going through many of our group’s activity logs, I saw that our moderator is banning the REAL scammers and undoing all our work. That is on me for not spreading the word, I guess. Rant over.
So, the message to our members holds true, DO NOT TRUST ANYONE ON SOCIAL MEDIA. There are people making big money from unsuspecting, gullible, easy targets. One member said he scammed them for almost $10,000. Wow. In this day and age, how do people trust others they never met to send that kind of money over the Internet?
There are countries like Nigeria, Kenya, Pakistan, India, Philippines, Russia, China, Romania, and the rest of the world where one good scam will make then well off. The current exchange rate makes the US Dollar strong everywhere else. There are huge criminal organizations that operate 24/7 to prowl the Internet and social media. I often tell my members that there are more scammers out there than actual members in the business. The way I know is that if a social media group is without admin supervision, they grow by leaps and bounds. I have seen groups grow in weeks by tens of thousands. Sketchy.
What kind of scams are most common?
You see these posts all the time saying they have high paying loads and will take ANY type of equipment. Use a semi, box truck, hotshot, cargo van, and promise you high income. Some are overseas brokers operating in the USA but many are using your information. They use your MC number and steal your identity or want you to sign up for a contract, charge you unnecessary fees or insurance up front. This is why I do not allow these types of posts in our groups and remove those soliciting our members for them.
One new scam I ran into today, all you that are looking for lease on drivers – beware of those saying they want to lease on but need some money for fuel and equipment before they can start. Trust me on this one.
We also have the same problem with LEASE ON Carriers and other types of scams or predatory leases. You work and they make all the money. They charge fees and percentages or don’t pay at all and leave you stranded. Eventually taking you out of business. This is a very expensive business and many have no idea how much so and fold.
I am not going to get into all the other Freight fraud like double brokering, hacked accounts, or brokers going out of business and not paying. We run into it daily. That will be another blog soon. I can only say that you need to watch EVERY DETAIL of your Ratecon. Look for matching companies, rates, and be sure to check your factoring companies credit ratings for companies.
How can you protect yourselves against being scammed?
I have a full time Logistics manager that is very sharp and vigilant. He has helped huge brokerages fight hacked accounts. I will say this, if your company or business used Microsoft emails, you can be hacked easily. Use Gmail. They are security conscious.
Do not trust anything that offers something, a job, money, grants, logos LOADS, something for nothing. Anyone wanting your personal information, Driver’s license, social security, EIN, and any passwords or account numbers, banking especially. Sure, all of this is obvious DC? They are very tricky and lure you into trusting them to get it with a good story or line.
Anyone that asks for a cash deposit in advance. Do not for any reason pay in advance. I hear my members say – well I do because I do not want to get scammed by driving all the way there. I get that but you are dealing with social media business and customers. Do your due diligence, get pictures, drivers licenses, addresses, phone numbers, REFERENCES, and check them out. MOST OF ALL CHECK the Facebook profile out carefully. Check for posts and friends. Check where their friends are from, DM the friend and ask about them. If they have sketchy profiles or especially locked profiles. Most of all check how long they have been a member of that group and how old their Facebook profile is. That will always be a good clue.
If you are posting a load or need a driver to carry a load, that is pure gold for scammers. You are the prime target. Just good ole guys are going to contact you with great prices, that is a red flag. This business is not cheap to run. They tell you stories about why you should send them a deposit; they give you fake profiles, fake mc numbers. Don’t fall for it. Would you give a stranger money in a dark alley? No difference.
You have to do your due diligence- check their safer profile: https://safer.fmcsa.dot.gov/CompanySnapshot.aspx
Compare the address to the drivers license picture you had them send you. Compare the phone number to the Safer company profile. CALL the Safer profile number and see if they are the same company.
Do not agree to pay a penny until the load is on the truck and trailer. Get pictures of load, driver, plates of both, licenses, etc. Do not pay for the load until it is delivered.
One thing to be aware of is that many loads are brokered out by scam brokers and the driver has no idea that he is delivering and not going to be paid for the load. Get the driver’s information so that you can confirm that he gets paid too. You need to ask him if the RATECON has the same information for the broker, driver and compare. They should show you this information.
It happens every day on these groups I run. We monitored groups and care about our members. One reason I started all of this is to improve the industry because I am an owner operator too.
TIPS from My Logistics Manager and Dispatch partner, an expert in detecting fraud and IT Cybercrime Alex Sabic
