What Is a Fictitious Pickup?

A fictitious pickup is a form of cargo theft where a criminal poses as the carrier you booked, or as a legitimate carrier entirely, and shows up to collect the load. The freight is never seen again.

Common setups

• Booking the load under a stolen or hijacked carrier identity
• Look-alike email domains and spoofed phone numbers
• A driver and truck that don't match the carrier on the rate confirmation

Defenses

Call the carrier on the phone number in FMCSA's records, verify the driver, truck and carrier name at pickup, and check for recent changes to the carrier's contact details.

All terms