It’s not really a crisis; it’s an epidemic. In the late 80’s, when I started my career in the brokerage industry, our carrier screening process was geared toward ensuring that carriers had a satisfactory safety rating and were properly insured. Today, although safety ratings and insurance coverage are still important, identity theft has become our greatest concern. Defrauders use false identities to commit a number of crimes. For example:
- Pretending to be a carrier, a scammer calls in “loaded” and then steals the fuel advance from the broker.
- Swindlers search available load boards for products that are easy to resell. They pick up the shipments, but never deliver them.
- Sometimes, an identity thief creates two false identities, one as a carrier and one as a broker. He accepts a load from a broker masquerading as a carrier, and then pretends to be a broker in order to hire another carrier to haul it. By accepting quick pay from the broker upon delivery, but never paying the carrier who actually hauled the load, the scammer gets his payday.
Over the years, we at Matchmaker Logistics have continually adapted our carrier screening procedures. We now use a 10-Point Carrier Qualification process to ensure that we are hiring qualified, thoroughly vetted carriers for each and every load we arrange.
Gone are the days of simply scanning the bottom of an insurance certificate to determine if a carrier has adequate coverage. Now, we go as far as comparing fonts on insurance certificates to check for tampering. Some the activities we have added to our process include:
- Comparing the authority activation date on the FMCSA website to verify that it matches the authority sent by the carrier contact.
- Subscribing to and monitoring multiple services where brokers post reports on problematic carriers.
- Checking the carriers’ authority history to verify if their authority has ever been revoked. (Crooks have been known to reactivate a dormant Motor Carrier Number in order to appear as if they have been in business for years.)
These are just a few of the steps we take to thwart identity thieves. As the ‘bad guys’ constantly scheme to find new ways to steal, we continuously educate ourselves via the Transportation Intermediaries Association and other broker/carrier groups to stay on top of the latest industry developments.
Since there’s nothing funny about fraud, I’ll leave you with these serious quotes:
- A thief believes everybody steals. ~ E. W. Howe
- With a gentleman I am always a gentleman and a half, and with a fraud I try to be a fraud and a half. ~ Otto von Bismarck
- Rather fail with honor than succeed by fraud. ~ Sophocles
Play fair and square this weekend,
~Bob
