Double brokering and load board scams: how to spot one

Double brokering is when a carrier takes a load from a broker and hands it to another carrier. The shipper and the original broker don't know about it. FMCSA notes that the carrier who actually hauls it often doesn't get paid.

So check every broker on FMCSA's own sites before you haul, and call back on a number you looked up yourself.

How double brokering and load board scams work

• Someone using a real broker's name or MC. They copy the name, MC and logo, then work from their own phone and email. That's fraud and identity theft, by FMCSA's definition.
• Double brokering. The carrier who booked the load quietly brokers it to you, collects from the real broker and doesn't pay you.
• A load offered by someone who doesn't control it. It's posted on a load board, sometimes under a real broker's name, by someone with no right to it. FMCSA says the real broker is often a victim too.
• A fake rate confirmation. The logo and MC look right, but the phone number or the pay-to details lead somewhere else. Even insurance certificates can be faked, FMCSA warns.
• A request to change where you get paid. An email asks you to send banking details to a new address, or says your pay details changed. The FBI says to confirm any change to account details another way, like a phone call.

Red flags of a fake freight broker

Any one of these is a reason to stop and check. Most come from FMCSA's fraud guidance.

• The number that called you isn't on the broker's SAFER record, or SAFER shows no phone at all.
• You're asked to say you're a different carrier, or your driver is told to lie about whose authority they're running under.
• You ask where the load is going and get told it's a "blind load".
• The rate is far above market, or the broker is quick to agree to pay you more.
• An email address or web link has one or two letters changed.

What to check before you haul

1. SAFER. Type safer.fmcsa.dot.gov into your browser, since FMCSA has warned about fake SAFER sites. Search the MC or USDOT number and make sure the company is authorized as a broker.
2. The bond. The snapshot's Licensing & Insurance link takes you to the broker's Motus record, where FMCSA now keeps registrations. A broker has to keep a surety bond or trust fund in effect to stay registered.
3. The phone. Call back on the number SAFER shows, not the one that called you.
4. Pay changes. Never change pay instructions because of an email alone.

The full routine is in how to check a freight broker, with our own SAFER record as the example.

Where to report a double brokering scam

Already picked it up? Don't hold the load until you get paid, which FMCSA says is illegal. Find out who's paying for the freight and ask to be put in touch with their broker.

• FMCSA Complaint Center, formerly the National Consumer Complaint Database. It takes complaints about property brokers, and about registration fraud and identity theft. Attach the rate confirmation, emails and texts.
• DOT Inspector General hotline. FMCSA points there too.
• Money sent to the wrong account? The FBI says the sender should call their bank right away and ask for a recall, then file with its Internet Crime Complaint Center. If it was your pay, call the broker on its SAFER number.

How to check a Bainbridge load

Carriers book days with us, and we broker loads to them. Here's how a week runs.

Our phone is (303) 276-2378, the number on our FMCSA record. Hours: Mon-Fri, 8 AM-5 PM Mountain.

We're Bainbridge Brokerage, LLC, MC 1390499, USDOT 3832071. We broker freight to motor carriers. Our verify page lists our numbers and links straight to our SAFER record.

How we pay carriers, and what to send where, is on our carrier payments page. Don't send banking or factoring paperwork to an address you didn't expect. If you're not sure where it goes, call us first.

Already running with us? See carrier support for a load or pay question.

New to us? Apply on our site. It takes about two minutes.