Fight fire with fire: Using technology in the battle against fraud 

The freight industry has always been vulnerable to fraud. But the combination of poor economic conditions over the past few years and increased reliance on technology in an industry with slow adoption of new tech has created an abundance of opportunity for bad actors.

In response to this rampant threat, Truckstop proactively blocked more than 8,000 potentially fraudulent onboarding attempts for its customers just in the first half of 2024. Using its identification verification tools, the company also denied access to its RMIS platform to nearly 8,000 carriers due to mismatched documentation. The company also blocked 5,000 suspicious attempts to post or haul freight on the Truckstop load board.

The right technology for the job

With scammers getting more sophisticated in compromising the security of cargo or a carrier’s sensitive information, brokers need access to the best technology available to help them efficiently deploy best-practice processes in their fight against fraud.

Training employees on evolving scams serves as a first line of defense in the effort to combat fraud. This means keeping up with evolving tactics and the security best practices that help detect and mitigate them.

It includes adopting technology innovations and integrating tools that can tap into evolving data, like Truckstop’s breakthrough carrier vetting tool, Risk Factors. Risk Factors analyzes Truckstop’s industry-leading data, known for being vast, comprehensive and current. Users get easy access to key fraud indicators: the latest insights on VoIP, VIN, IP address behavior and more across the Truckstop platform, RMIS and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

“Truckstop has a database going back 30 years,” said Lisa Haubenstock, vice president of product, risk and compliance solutions at Truckstop.

Brokers can use this advanced vetting tool to quickly identify behaviors that might be considered “risky” during the carrier vetting process to help them decide if they should continue the relationship, vet the carrier further or discontinue the relationship and move on.

“Bad actors are more technologically advanced and have the ability to move faster than the vast majority of businesses out there,” Haubenstock said. “If you are really looking to put up a good fight and proactively prevent fraudulent activity impacting your business, you really need to fight fire with fire, and leveraging technology is the best way to go about doing that.”
The company is currently offering a free 14-day trial of Truckstop Risk Factors. To learn more about Truckstop’s Risk Factors and the free trial, visit here.