Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
Let me set the stage. You’re a relatively new trucking business, and you get a call that appears to be from a brokerage you’ve already hauled some loads for offering you a dedicated lane for the next three months. But the supposed broker wants you to pay them $1,500 for the privilege.
In all the excitement of getting steady freight that might help your business take that next step -- that is, to steady freight with a trusted partner you can rely on -- you think of the payment as an investment in your business, get a money order and send it off.
Lo and behold, the broker calls you back the next day and says they also have a return lane that they’ll give you for yet another $1,500 deposit. Again, you envision relief from the day-to-day hustle, a steady out-and-back. The deposit feels more investment than cost.
You probably see where this is going. There are no dedicated lanes, no holy grail out-and-back haul -- at least not from this broker that would require you to pay to haul it.
[Related: 'Personal cyber hygiene' for owner-ops to help avoid scammers online]
It's more or less what unfolded recently for Louisiana-based Patriot Hotshot, which has been in business for about a year. Owner Ryan Dickson and his wife, Wendy, had hauled about 10 loads for TQL before Ryan got a call from a number that appeared to be the same number he'd used to communicate with the broker on those loads. This time, though, it'd been spoofed by scammers.
TQL did not respond to queries about whether the brokerage was aware of the spoofing of their numbers.
Wendy Dickson noted that after the $3,000 was lost, she realized something wasn’t right. She suspects the scammers are targeting newer MC numbers, banking on their inexperience in the business.
Wendy contacted TQL, and after explaining the situation, a representative told her the scammers were “vishing” (voice phishing) the brokerage’s phone number and identified an irregularity with the email address they used to correspond with the Dicksons.
“And that was the extent of the conversation,” she said. “I know we’re not the only one that’s been scammed out of $3,000, and all over them representing to be TQL.”
Wendy said she understands she and her husband made the mistake, but her frustration now is more about the mega broker not doing more to prevent these things from happening, she said.
“If you know that they’re doing this, you contact head people [at TQL] and you tell them people are getting scammed by vishing your phone number, and you get to the bottom of it, or you change your phone number, or you go and you alert carriers that this is happening,” she said.
Wendy Dickson admitted that, looking back, it’s a red flag if a broker asks the carrier for money for a lane, but “when you’re fresh, first in this, you realize how hard it is" to set up truly steady freight, she said. "Then something good comes along and you just think, ‘Wow, it’s a pain [even] to get brokers to give you decent rates.’”
You're grateful, overjoyed. Due diligence goes by the wayside.
[Related: SAFER Transport Act would require prosecution of fraudsters, ban felons from freight]
Wendy said she plans to turn their case over to the FBI in hope that the scammers get caught and pay the price. She knows they won’t see their $3,000 again, but she hopes that by telling their story, other carriers -- new and old -- will avoid making the same mistakes.
“We won’t ever see that money again, but having those responsible held liable if they can catch them -- that’s all that matters to me at this point, and warning others,” she said. “If they ask for money, it’s a scam. No one should ask you for money for a load. They’re paying you, you’re not paying them.”
If you get a call from a familiar number offering you a load, lane or anything else that sounds like it could be too good to be true, hang up and call the company's number yourself to confirm the details.
What you find out might keep a big chunk of change in the bank account.
[Related: FMCSA warns of 'aggressive' new phishing campaign targeting carriers]
