There are four big scams that hauliers most often fall victim to. CM discovers how they work and what you should look out for

THE MAIN SCAMS:

INSIDE DECEPTION

Truck and load thefts are often preceded by a crook getting work at haulage premises, or knowing someone already employed who will give sufficient information to allow offenders to gain entry and steal the vehicles. This might be done for reward or unwittingly by the insider, says Coutts.

FAKE SECURITY STAFF

Some criminals have been able to obtain replica certificates and use false names to gain employment as security guards in businesses, meaning they can be virtually untraceable. They can operate from regional DC and intercept drivers who might be waiting outside the premises to enter the following day. Typically they divert them into a more convenient space where other offenders will be waiting to grab the driver.

HIJACKS

Five attempted hijack were reported to Truck Pol during Q1. When hijackers have done their homework then they may impersonate a VOSA officer and flag down a vehicle and attack an unsuspecting trucker.

  ’TEAM STEAM’

Rounds tells CM that he is encouraging more and more cases of a scam dubbed ‘teams who steam’. The robbery involves a number of high-performance cars used by a freight crime gang to track a truck and carry a team who will then start to ‘steam’ the vehicle (enter the vehicle mob-handed and overpower the driver, often by weight or numbers) and offload the cargo onto a van.

Extracted from Commercial Motor