Episode 03 of the Fight Fraud Series with Dana Randazzo, COO — Auto Hauler Exchange
Identity spoofing passes the most obvious checks. The MC number is real. The DOT matches a real company. The insurance certificate looks legitimate. The only problem is the person showing up to pick up your vehicle has no legitimate claim to any of it.
"It's pretty easy for bad carriers to do things like generate gate passes and fake documentation with AI today. It's become rampant." — Dana Randazzo, COO, Auto Hauler Exchange
According to FreightWaves, freight fraud has shifted from opportunistic theft to organized, technology-enabled deception. Identity-based fraud — bad actors impersonating legitimate motor carriers, dispatchers, and brokers — is now the dominant threat vector in commercial freight. "The MC number may be real. The certificate may look real. The email signature may look real," says Jamie Cannon, SVP at Reliance Partners. "But the person communicating may have no connection to the actual carrier."
That's exactly the scheme Dana Randazzo covers in Episode 3 of the Fight Fraud Series. Here's how it works in vehicle transport, what to verify, and what stops it.
How identity fraud happens
Purchasing or inheriting valid MC numbers
FMCSA operating authority — the MC number that lets a carrier haul freight commercially — can be purchased or transferred when a carrier goes out of business or stops operations. Bad actors buy these dormant authorities from carriers who are no longer actively monitoring their registration. The MC number still shows as active on FMCSA's SAFER system, passes basic brokerage checks, and gives the fraudster a clean-looking credential to book loads with.
Overdrive reported in 2024 that active MC numbers were being sold on the secondary market for as much as $30,000, specifically because an established authority with clean history is harder to detect than a brand-new one. Legitimate-looking age, no recent violations, prior insurance history — all present, all belonged to someone else.
Hacking into active carrier accounts
Active carriers with clean safety records and strong history are also targets for phishing. Once a bad actor compromises a legitimate carrier's email or dispatch system, they intercept load bookings, alter delivery addresses, and route vehicles to unauthorized locations — all while the real carrier has no idea their identity is being used. The load board or broker sees a carrier they've worked with before and has no reason to question it.
Generating convincing fake documentation with AI
Producing fake gate passes, dispatch paperwork, and insurance certificates used to take real effort. It required access to design software and an understanding of what legitimate documents looked like. AI has removed both barriers. Fraudsters now generate professional-quality fake documentation in minutes. Font, formatting, logo placement, policy numbers — all convincing enough to pass a visual inspection at the releasing lot.
FreightWaves reported that AI is "making fraud faster, cleaner, and harder to spot" and that fraudsters can now "create professional-looking communications, fake documents, convincing carrier profiles, cloned voices, and phishing attempts that feel very real." For a releasing dealer or auction, this means the paperwork check alone is no longer a reliable defense.
What to check on the paperwork
The DOT number on the paperwork must match the DOT number on the truck. Not approximately. Exactly. You can verify any carrier's DOT number, operating authority status, safety rating, and inspection history at safer.fmcsa.dot.gov — FMCSA's free public lookup tool. It takes about 60 seconds and shows whether the authority is active, how long it has been operating, and whether there are any safety flags on record.
Two things to look for that indicate a higher-risk situation:
Brand-new authority. If the MC number was issued recently — within the last 60 to 180 days — combined with a rate below market, that's a meaningful red flag. AHX requires a minimum of 180 days of active operating authority before a carrier can be approved to haul on the platform.
Mismatch on the VIN. Paperwork showing only the last six digits of the VIN, or identifying the vehicle only by year, make, and model, is a red flag. A legitimately dispatched carrier has the full 17-digit VIN. Fraudsters who scraped vehicle information from a listing or load board frequently have only the general description. Never release to any driver who can't produce or confirm the full VIN.
What to verify at the lot
Verify the carrier name and DOT number on the truck against your dispatch paperwork. Look at the door or cab of the truck. The number displayed there must match exactly — not approximately.
Request the driver's license. Photograph it. The driver's name must match the dispatch records you received. If there's any discrepancy between the name on the license, the name in your records, and the name the driver gives verbally, stop the release.
"Never release a vehicle where it 'almost' matches. Use a single checklist. If someone's out, make sure there's a checklist there so it's easy for everyone to follow." — Dana Randazzo
That checklist is the real defense. Fraud exploits inconsistency. A meticulous employee who happens to be out sick on the day of pickup is not a system. A printed, posted checklist that any staff member can follow closes the gap regardless of who's working that day.
Download the free AHX Vehicle Release Checklist — a step-by-step guide for every vehicle release: Get the Vehicle Release Checklist
For how to properly vet a carrier from the ground up, read How to Vet a Carrier in Auto Transport.
For how AHX's carrier verification process works: How We Vet Carriers for Insurance, Monitoring, and Compliance.
Watch Episode 3 free at autohaulerexchange.com/fight-fraud.
Sources: FreightWaves, "Freight Fraud Has Gone Corporate," May 2026; FMCSA SAFER system, safer.fmcsa.dot.gov; AHX State of Transparency in Vehicle Transportation.
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