Fraudulent and Misleading Compliance Emails

By Brian J. RikerBy Brian J. Riker

We have all received some very obviously fake emails asking us to file a form or pay for a compliance requirement. As email marketing grows in sophistication, more will receive some pretty convincing emails that appear legitimate, often threatening some sort of legal or regulatory penalty if action is not immediately taken. These solicitations cost the trucking industry millions of dollars each year. I want to help towers spot the obvious, and not so obvious, solicitation messages.

As a compliance specialist and consultant it infuriates me when less than scrupulous companies send these advertisements under the pretense of official notifications. It makes the legitimate companies look bad, adds confusion to an already complex regulatory environment and scams hard working towers out of money for services that are usually either free or available at a very low cost when done yourself.

These solicitations usually come in bunches around certain regulatory compliance deadlines. The most common will come with an official sounding title like “Motor Carrier Compliance Division” or similar and inform you that you are out of compliance with some common filing requirement such as Unified Carrier Registration (UCR) or the bi-annual update of your US DOT number. While these are legitimate compliance requirements for most towers, the Agencies involved usually do not send out email reminders, and never send out emails with big “action” buttons (click here to file).

Another common solicitation circulating currently, one that has generated quite a few calls to my office recently, is an email from a Ct. based compliance company informing motor carriers that the deadline for electronic record keeping is here. Let me be clear, while electronic record keeping is the way of the future and can help assure your company remains compliant, it is not a regulatory requirement from the US Department of Transportation yet. It isn’t even a proposed regulation or rule making. This email is simply a company trying to sell its software services to unsuspecting motor carriers, including towers.

Here are some simple tips to help you decide if an email or letter you have received is legitimate or simply a sales pitch. If you still have concerns or doubt after applying these tips, then feel free to reach out to a trusted compliance expert of your choosing for more detailed guidance. You can even find some information about these solicitations from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration by typing in “solicitations” in the search bar at the top of their official website.

• Official US DOT or FMCSA communications will come from an email address ending in .gov
  

  • Be sure to look closely at the lettering as some fraudulent emails are ending in .g0v using the number zero in place of the letter O

• The US DOT and FMCSA do not email motor carriers unless you have requested them to either when you registered for your US DOT number or in another form submitted with a specific question or request

• The US DOT never asks for a credit card or bank access in an email or telephone call

• While some State Agencies do use email as a regular method of communication, they usually do not have action buttons or ask for a credit card in the email, only on their official website

• No governmental agency has a subscription service. If the fine print mentions a recurring fee or cancelation policy it is from a third party provider not an official government entity

• Unified Carrier Registration (UCR) is the most common scam. You status can be verified for free, and filing made without a third party service provider fee, at their official website www.ucr.gov

• Bi-annual updates are the second most common scam. While the US DOT will deactivate a US DOT number if these are not current it doesn’t happen immediately. The status of your US DOT number can be checked for free at www.safer.fmcsa.dot.gov/CompanySnapshot.aspx and the update can be completed for free using the registration tab at www.fmcsa.dot.gov

Bottom line, the state and federal motor carrier enforcement agencies usually do not initiate communication via email; they prefer regular US Mail. The biggest exception to this is the new entrant safety audit notice which will arrive via email from a state partner of the FMCSA.

If you get an email or telephone call demanding immediate action is it likely to be a high pressure sales pitch at best or an outright scam at worst. If in doubt you can always hang up and call the agency in question directly to confirm.