ShawnR
Site Supporter
10
Quote right from CargoNet:
"Yesterday, CargoNet received 7 reports of fictitious/ fraudulent pickups in Ontario and Quebec. In each case, the assigned carrier was 4249437 Canada D/B/A Otem Trans Logistics (MC-497286). None of the victims have been able to reach the carrier after the load was picked up and CargoNet has been unable to establish contact, either.
In this particular event, the suspects decided to reactivate an old carrier identity last used in 2006. It was reactivated in March. This would still be consisted a type of fictitious pickup, because the carrier is fraudulently representing themselves as a legitimate entity that intends to pickup and deliver the load. More importantly, what are the signs a carrier compliance rep can find to catch one of these before they happen?
Past experience tells us that in the case of most of these fictitious companies, they are often newly created entities with one truck/ one driver listed in existence for months prior to the event. Their insurance certificate will likely be legitimate because they actually purchased insurance for their fictitious company - a small investment to obtain hundreds of thousands of dollars in stolen goods. They will often be interested in booking more loads of a specific commodity type in a specific geographic area, despite only listing 1 truck and 1 driver on SAFER. There will likely be no vehicle inspections on SAFER. Free e-mail services like Gmail and Yahoo are commonly used. When querying their phone numbers on a free search tool like fonefinder.com, all of their numbers will likely go back to cell phone or VOIP lines. Their representative names are often very generic like "Bob Smith", "Carlos", or "Mike". Remember, when setting up a new carrier your company has the right to do as much research as possible. There's no quick and foolproof way to distinguish a fictitious company from a new carrier, but there are warning signs. If a carrier qualification rep sees warning signs - press for more information. Ask for VINs of vehicles, DL copies of the driver, last names of parties, truck and trailer license plates, and other identifying information. Even if the fictitious carrier agrees and passes this line of questioning, it will give investigators a better place to start."
"Yesterday, CargoNet received 7 reports of fictitious/ fraudulent pickups in Ontario and Quebec. In each case, the assigned carrier was 4249437 Canada D/B/A Otem Trans Logistics (MC-497286). None of the victims have been able to reach the carrier after the load was picked up and CargoNet has been unable to establish contact, either.
In this particular event, the suspects decided to reactivate an old carrier identity last used in 2006. It was reactivated in March. This would still be consisted a type of fictitious pickup, because the carrier is fraudulently representing themselves as a legitimate entity that intends to pickup and deliver the load. More importantly, what are the signs a carrier compliance rep can find to catch one of these before they happen?
Past experience tells us that in the case of most of these fictitious companies, they are often newly created entities with one truck/ one driver listed in existence for months prior to the event. Their insurance certificate will likely be legitimate because they actually purchased insurance for their fictitious company - a small investment to obtain hundreds of thousands of dollars in stolen goods. They will often be interested in booking more loads of a specific commodity type in a specific geographic area, despite only listing 1 truck and 1 driver on SAFER. There will likely be no vehicle inspections on SAFER. Free e-mail services like Gmail and Yahoo are commonly used. When querying their phone numbers on a free search tool like fonefinder.com, all of their numbers will likely go back to cell phone or VOIP lines. Their representative names are often very generic like "Bob Smith", "Carlos", or "Mike". Remember, when setting up a new carrier your company has the right to do as much research as possible. There's no quick and foolproof way to distinguish a fictitious company from a new carrier, but there are warning signs. If a carrier qualification rep sees warning signs - press for more information. Ask for VINs of vehicles, DL copies of the driver, last names of parties, truck and trailer license plates, and other identifying information. Even if the fictitious carrier agrees and passes this line of questioning, it will give investigators a better place to start."
