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How to Protect Your Business from Fraud  

For shipper best practices, access our shipper security guide here. 

Together, we can make the logistics industry safer 

With fraud on the rise in our industry, protecting your cargo and your business has never been more important. But everyone has a role to play – while we’ve taken major steps to secure our marketplace, it’s important that you also take steps to protect yourself. 

Be sure to read our best practices for securing your account and every step of your transaction from dispatch to delivery, so you can use Central Dispatch with maximum confidence and security.

Secure Your Account  

Sharing your sign-in details with others, even people who work for you, can expose you to fraud and unauthorized access. So, we highly recommend setting up User Management as soon as you open your account with us. 

This gives contractors, employees, or people outside your organization their own Central Dispatch login credentials, and minimizes the risks of identity theft when sharing your own account credentials. You can also set guardrails on what business information they can view, helping you avoid potential account security risks. 

Plus, with reinforced multi-factor authentication, every Central Dispatch account has an extra layer of protection from unauthorized access. Your phone number is the preferred verification method, and the most secure. 

Be sure to be cautious about who you add as a user, and always vet any third party companies or contractors before giving them an account under User Management. Account owners and admins should regularly review the user activity history to monitor for unexpected changes.

While Central Dispatch is here to support you with best practices to keep your account secure, you are responsible for any conduct that occurs on your account.

Protect Your FMCSA Details 

Many cases of fraud start when bad actors steal FMCSA details and pose as legitimate carriers. It’s critical to keep yours secure by using strong passwords and never sharing your log-in info for any platform. 

Additionally, you should make sure that your USDOT# and authorization status is up-to-date on Central Dispatch, so shippers can easily verify you and feel confident partnering with you. You can also upload insurance documentation to further stand out as a vetted, trusted carrier.

Know How To Identify Common Scams 

One common sign of a fraudulent load is an unusually high listing price. Scammers will lure carriers with high-ball offers in order to carry out a double-brokering scheme, or simply to lower the price once a carrier accepts a load. So, if an offer appears too good to be true, it probably is. Use our Price Check tool to better understand typical market rates and help you assess whether a load offer seems legitimate.  

Another clear sign of double-brokering is seeing a different carrier’s name on a Bill of Lading. Make sure to always request documentation ahead of time, so you and your drivers can check through and look for any inconsistencies, and avoid being caught in double brokering.  

Be extremely cautious of anyone requesting to change a vehicle’s pick-up location. Scammers will often pose as shippers and offer drivers extra money to reroute vehicles to a new location where they are waiting to steal it. It’s critical to verify that any text, call, email or any type of communication is from the assigned shipper before following any new delivery instructions. Often, it’s best to simply ignore any calls like this, and ask that shippers only give you new instructions within the Central Dispatch platform. 

Secure Communications During Transit

Dispatching and communicating through private phone calls, emails, and texts exposes you to fraud, so it’s best to keep as much communication as possible within our platform.  

We highly recommend never accepting a dispatch sheet via email. Encourage shippers to dispatch vehicles to you using our fully electronic dispatch system: this greatly reduces the risk of falling victim to fake texts and phone calls, and allows shippers to more easily keep tabs on shipments. You should also assign a driver to each load, so your pickup location can verify the identity of the individual picking up the vehicle. 

Additionally, if a shipper requests to change any delivery instructions, it’s important to update the dispatch sheet in Central Dispatch to match those new instructions. 

We also highly recommend you and your drivers use the Central Dispatch carrier mobile app. This not only allows you to send vehicle location updates directly to shipping partners, but it also enables load tracking – helping you provide greater peace of mind to shippers, build trust, and strengthen your reputation in the marketplace.  

Review After Dropoff 

After the delivery is complete, always rate and review your carrier partner honestly. It’s a great way for the Central Dispatch community to help each other avoid bad actors, reward honest carriers who do good work, and create a more transparent marketplace for everyone. You can also choose to publish your review later at a later date, you can more confidently and honestly rate your partners​​​​​​​​. 

In the Event of Fraud

If you do fall victim to fraud, it’s critical to immediately contact the authorities and file a police report in the jurisdiction of the incident. Provide any information you can to local law enforcement, report the incident to the USDOT’s Inspector General, file a complaint with the FMCSA National Consumer Complaint Database, or contract the Federal Trade Commission.  

We also encourage you to report the incident to our new Marketplace Integrity Team. These are dedicated transportation experts who are here to take serious action when necessary, and permanently remove known bad actors from our platform. 

Steps We’re Taking To Help You Transport Cars Safely

Central Dispatch is making significant strides in addressing this challenge in our industry, and addressing this challenge in our industry so that vehicles can be transported safely and securely. 

We are constantly evolving our vetting process alongside the changing market landscape to ensure only legitimate companies gain access to our marketplace, and carriers can more confidently find legitimate loads. 

We’ve also formed the Marketplace Integrity Team that is dedicated to combating fraud and helping you stay secure. This team collaborates directly with Cox Security and other enterprise teams to investigate issues, deactivate fraudulent accounts, and proactively protect our customers.  

We’re partnering with other industry leaders to lobby Congress, advocating for stronger protections against automotive fraud and encouraging action and accountability from the FMCSA.

We all play a part in building a safer, more secure marketplace for shipping vehicles. Let’s keep working together to protect our industry from fraud and ensure Central Dispatch remains a trusted platform for everyone.

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