Hundreds of thousands of new truckers enter the industry every year, and a huge number of those already in the industry frequently change carriers. Recruiting truck drivers happens with ads on the web, magazine ads, phone calls, word of mouth, and of course some smaller companies will post an ad on craigslist. There are some legitimate companies who recruit this way, but there’s a new scam involving craigslist truck jobs that is making truckers victims of identity theft.
Fox23 News is reporting that drivers have been applying to a trucking job posting on Craigslist. As part of the hiring process drivers had to hand over sensitive personal information just as they would with any commercial driving job application. The only difference is that these drivers were sending their information to a scammer.
Police say that the information that the scammer provides is different every time, but he generally goes by either Jim or Forrest. Instead of just steering clear of everyone named Jim or Forrest, here’s a few tips for protecting yourself from this sort of scam.
- See if you can find a direct contact number for the company.
- Generally, the email address they contact you with should be from the company website (john@truckingcompany.com for example, not truckingcompany@yahoo.com)
- Always do your research on a trucking company before you apply to make sure that they’re a reputable employer. A good way to do this is to visit our forum and do a search for the company name. If no one has ever written a post about them on our forum, they probably don’t exist.
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Source: fleetowner
banty rooster says
it happens every day on craigs list. never provide your resume to any recruiter online until they call you and you make sure they are on the job as a recruiter. there is also a scammer by the name of CRANDLE MYERS. he was doing this on the indy board but now moves around to others. he was doing this using WALBERT TRUCKING OF KENTUCKY. he screwed a few drivers out of 3 weeks pay. always works out of a hotel room. last I new he was using ARKANSAS TRUCKING to do his scam. good luck to all drivers.
Lee says
You just opened yourself up to a lawsuit buddy.
Dia says
Get emails asking for payment or confirming loads you have not booked or run to pay you using actual business names. I got a couple of those and just called the company to inform them. Its ridiculous and I definitely tweet the name the person is using and the company they claim to be with after I have informed the company…they have no idea that someone is using their business name…it can happen to anyone.
PENWORTH says
I’ve also seen multiple trucking companies requesting information, to include SSN, that are not using SSL. If you see anyone asking for personal information, even if they are legit, and the URL does not show https://, do not enter your info. If they only show http://, your info is not encrypted and too susceptible to capture.
Linda PV says
Regretfully, there are legitimate companies that have on line applications that are not secure. In that case, ask for a hard copy of the application mailed, to be filled out and mailed or faxed back. Drivers who are broke, out of work, in an abusive or unsafe work situation and need to start quickly are the ones who are most easily taken advantage of. This is well known and exploited.
Just Me says
You should never ever put your s.s. number on websites. The industries that are legit should not ask you for it in this manner. Shame on them.
Samuel Barradas says
The driver job application form on our website requires a social security number, which is encrypted and transmitted securely. Giving it to someone over the phone or filling out a form on paper and mailing it in isn’t any more secure.
PENWORTH says
I don’t have a problem if it’s a secure site. I’d rather do that than to put it in e-mail. They need some info to check you out. But when a site is not secure and encrypted I won’t provide any PII.
Two Thermos says
I’d never reply to a posting on Craig’s List. For that matter Help Wanted ads in the local paper or posted on bulletin boards in truck stops, as well, ought to be investigated, carefully, before submitting them any of your information. Whatsoever. These days, scammers don’t need much more than your name and address (even just general location) and they can track you down and find out all your pertinent info. The way better approach, I’ve always thought, is to identify a company, or companies, you think you might want to work for and APPROACH THEM. Most legitimate outfits are always looking for drivers. If you’ve got a decent record they’ll probably be interested in you. Make sure they’ look like they’re going to be a good fit for you, first, before you start filling out forms or, especially, giving out all your info to somebody over the phone.
Rob says
This is a daily occurrence in the local Craigslist ads here (Vancouver BC).
When I’ve been surfing around to see if there’s any grass greener, I see lots of anonymous ads with the only contact info offered being the Craigslist generic e-mail address. Most ads state that the respondent should include copies of their resume, drivers abstract, and sometimes their accident history from the insurance provider too, otherwise they will not be considered.
I took some time off from trucking a few years ago and was a personnel manager for a while, and fully understand what sort of morons reply and apply for ads. The last thing I needed was endless stream of bozo phone calls interrupting my busy day. But I had to suck it up and deal with it because that is part of the job, and very necessary. Further, I know full well that there’s lots of small fleet owner/ops who drive themselves, and they can’t spend all day answering endless calls while in the mountains and/or trying to sleep. All that being said, employers in either situation should make plans on how to handle this function efficiently before they post an ad. But who ever said the trucking industry involved brains.
An easy workaround is to send an e-mail reply to the anonymous ad stating that for security concerns, you don’t send personal info to blind e-mail addresses, but that you are interested in the position. You can ask them to include their company name and a way to contact them in their reply to you. Or you could give them your number and ask them to call you. You could also provide a very brief summary of years of experience, mountain driving, number of current tickets, no accidents etc. At worst, a scammer would only get your name, e-mail address and phone number (if you included it). I would estimate that only 8% would ever contact you back, proving the amount of scams online, as well as the amount of stone dumb potential employers.
I always pre-vet companies, and I will do searches on their company name, phone number, and from those I can then check out their DOT and MC numbers etc. Saferweb is a good site as well. You would be surprised what you can learn with a thorough search. From previous employees comments, to creditors ratings, insurance they carry etc, to full out hard core data that the governments have.
Good luck hunting.
dealaw says
FMCSA would do better to reg headhunters (aka recruiters) and leave the drivers alone for a while, like the next hundred years.