Beware of Recruiting/Driver Scam.

[Uturn2001]

I got this off another trucking forum.

Fleet Training Manager Warns of Student Driver Scam
By Deborah Whistler, Editorial Director

1/25/2008
A con game that targets truck driving schools and carriers with student training programs is reportedly scamming money from student truck drivers.
Bob Harrigan, training manager for Star Transportation Inc., has asked Heavy Duty Trucking magazine to spread the word on this scheme to protect new drivers from being victimized.
Harrigan was first notified of the problem by Sandra Goforth of Alliance Tractor Trailer Training Center in Arden, N.C.
According to Goforth, a man identifying himself as "Johnny" called Alliance, presenting himself as a driver recruiter. His demeanor is very professional, she said, and he appears to know a lot about the carriers he claims to represent (fleet size, pay scales, equipment, etc.).
Apparently, he uses this technique to obtain lists of truck driver school attendees/graduates with their phone numbers.
The scammer then calls the students and identifies himself as carrier management. He tells the unwitting driver that he/she has been hired and convinces the victim to send him money for additional training expenses.
The students are led to believe they are doing what's required to get the job. They're asked to send the money via Western Union, so the crook can pick it up anywhere.
Goforth said "Johnny" occasionally calls from the phone number (912) 238-1019, which she has learned is a pay phone at a Savannah, Ga. Greyhound Bus station.
"On the evening of 1/22/08, one of our student attendees in our driver orientation at Star Transportation was contacted by phone while staying at our off-site lodging facility in Nashville," says Harrigan. "The caller identified himself using the name of our recruiting department supervisor. The student accepted the caller as legitimate."
Harrigan said the caller insisted that when the student completed orientation he would immediately be assigned to a truck and a load to South Carolina. "Our student responded that his experience level would not allow him to do any such thing and the conversation ended."
The next day, the student driver reported the phone call to the orientation supervisor.
As the morning progressed, the student was contacted by his wife saying that she had received a phone call at their home, and the caller identified himself as "Jim Davis" from Star Transportation. Star has no such employee.
The caller asked for the driver's wife by name. He then convinced her that her husband was on his way to Myrtle Beach, S.C., with a load, that he needed money, and that she should immediately wire him $200.
The wife fell for the ploy and sent the money through Western Union, as directed by the scammer. The recipient was to be named "Star" and that's how the money was sent and picked up. The scammer had called from a Verizon pay phone (843) 448-8352, Harrigan says.
A police report has been filed on the incident. Two other student drivers at Star Transportation reported receiving similar calls that same day.
"Our recruiting department is now telling all student applicants about this scam, and that no one from Star Transportation will ever call them or their families asking for money to be sent anywhere for any reason," Harrigan says. "Students are being told that if they receive such a call, they are to report it immediately to Star Transportation and to law enforcement."
On the same day the Star driver was scammed, it happened to a student at Covenant Transport in Chattanooga, Harrigan says, and another at Werner Enterprises.
"There is great concern as to how the scammer(s) are obtaining detailed information about the students and the company representatives," Harrigan says. "This problem affects the entire transportation industry and the word needs to get out quickly."

[greg3564]

As soon as anyone calls or emails and the words Western Union appear, I disregard. I can't believe people still fall for this kind of thing. Man there are some naive people in this world. Oh yeah, I work for a bank in Nigeria......send me money!

[MtFoxx]

As soon as anyone calls or emails and the words Western Union appear, I disregard. I can't believe people still fall for this kind of thing. Man there are some naive people in this world. Oh yeah, I work for a bank in Nigeria......send me money!

I know man Some of these scams are just stupid; spelling , grammar, punctuation mistakes. I really hate that they focus on the elderly and poor. :evil: :x

However, with that much information loose and an accomplished scammer...

This scammer will be fortunate to be caught by authorities and not a trucker or biker :twisted: :evil: 8)

[Windwalker]

It also looks like this guy is not staying in one place. Greyhound bus station in Savannah, GA, then another area code entirely. And, with the kind of information he has, what's the chances that he's a "former" recruiter? Either that or he may have been a "job-hopper" and in all the talking with recruiters, he's got the routine down pat. And, if he does make a mistake, a trainee is not as likely to catch on.

[TomB985]

Just FYI...

That other number, the Verizon pay phone is in Myrtle Beach, SC, 230 miles from savannah, GA

[ohiomohawk]

The scammer then calls the students and identifies himself as carrier management. He tells the unwitting driver that he/she has been hired and convinces the victim to send him money for additional training expenses.

Really....who would fall for something like that. What are the chances someone is going to call you and hire you right over the phone, then tell you that you need to send them $$ for training.

Whoever falls for this and sends the money deserves to be scammed.

[Uturn2001]

The scammer then calls the students and identifies himself as carrier management. He tells the unwitting driver that he/she has been hired and convinces the victim to send him money for additional training expenses.

Really....who would fall for something like that. What are the chances someone is going to call you and hire you right over the phone, then tell you that you need to send them $$ for training.

Whoever falls for this and sends the money deserves to be scammed.

One thing everyone seems to forget is that this scammer is targeting people and their families who are totally green in the industry. Many of them probably have no idea what so ever what is normal or not, plus you add to it all the stories, true and false, or companies taking money from drivers for this or that and the likelihood of a successful scam increases.

[GMAN]

I don't think we need to blame the novices for being taken advantage. They have no idea of how this business operates. Many who enter the business are already strapped for cash and they will do almost anything to get rolling. The main thing this con artist has going for him that lends credibility is personal information on his target. I would verify what he says, but I have been around for a long time. Someone with much less experience in this industry and life might not think to do that. I don't think we need to blame the victim, but go after the perpetrator. We seem to want to make the con artist the victim. Let's do what we can to spread the word and catch this crook.

[mbadriver]

The biggest scam is the line of crap the recruiter feeds ya

[MtFoxx]

I don't think we need to blame the novices for being taken advantage. They have no idea of how this business operates. Many who enter the business are already strapped for cash and they will do almost anything to get rolling. The main thing this con artist has going for him that lends credibility is personal information on his target. I would verify what he says, but I have been around for a long time. Someone with much less experience in this industry and life might not think to do that. I don't think we need to blame the victim, but go after the perpetrator. We seem to want to make the con artist the victim. Let's do what we can to spread the word and catch this crook.

Exactly GMAN.....

[MtFoxx]

Whoever falls for this and sends the money deserves to be scammed.

You sound a bit green yourself.

[Twilight Flyer]

This guy or guys have been working this angle for about 2 years now, that we know of. He was actually hitting drivers we had coming into orientation and were at the hotel. It was a Verizon number out of Vegas and we originally thought it was a hotel employee that was working them. No idea what became of it. We reported it to the police, but the scam has popped up a few times over the past couple years now. Problem is, people are falling for it and the scammers are staying with whatever works.

[mhbourne]

843-333-2886
So here's a new angle on these sorts of scams that preys on the families of truckers.
This guy, who works out of Myrtle Beach (sound familiar) finds out what motels trucking companies are using to put up their new hires. He calls the motel on the evening before orientation begins (typically sunday) and tells the clerk he is from the company (in this case "Mike from Melton") and asks to speak to the last new hire who checked in. In this way he doesn't have to know a name or ask for room numbers, something that most motels will not do. He gets connected to the room and chats to the new hire saying he is from the company asks why the new hire decided to leave their old company and then asks for an emergency contact. He then offers a story about how last week in orientation someone's cell phone kept going off and it was very distracting and the new hire should either leave the phone in the motel room or turn it off before coming to orientation.
The next day pretty much as soon as he knows orientation has begun he calls the emergency contact (typically significant others or parents) claims to be someone from the company and says that because the new hire had past experience they decided to put him right on the road with a trainer and a load to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. He says that the trainee will need money to pay for insurance which the company would pay for but they want to make sure the trainee is going to stay with the company for a while since he has had a few different jobs in the past (something he found out from chatting with the student the previous night).
He asks to have the money wired to a location in Myrtle Beach and gives a contact number of 843-333-2886. (a Myrtle Beach cell number).
Naturally the emergency contact tries to get through to their son, daughter, spouse to verify this but can not since the phone is off.
This is a pretty rough situation since it preys on the ignorance of the family about how the industry works and the fact that the emergency contact cares about and is worried for their child/spouse and can be easily sucked in.
Talk to your spouses or parents about what they can expect for your training, where you'll be and for how long. Tell them they will never be asked for money by a company and if so to only send money after hearing from you.

[Sheepdancer]

Let it be known that if a recruiter asks for money, its a scam. True recruiters prefer beer and pizza over money and will always ask for that.

[ohiomohawk]

Whoever falls for this and sends the money deserves to be scammed.

You sound a bit green yourself.

I may be green but come on....

"He tells the unwitting driver that he/she has been hired??"

I have worked for over 20 yrs, I have never had a company I never heard of call me up and tell me I am hired and then ask for $$ for training. I am not saying I could never be scammed, but DAMM, you would have to be pretty naive to fall for this crap.