Navigating Identity Theft as a Trucker: Developing Your Best Roadmap

Throughout my career, I've had the pleasure (and burden!) of working in pretty much every area of law that your typical American laborer will run into during their life. Landlord/tenant disputes, taxes, credit issues and contract disputes, estate planning and domestic splits, and the occasional lawsuit over a bar fight have all come across my desk at one point or another. The hardest situations to fight for a realistically 'good' outcome are always the family law cases, without a doubt. Number 2, though, has always been identity theft in some form or another.

One of the difficulties in working in identity theft recovery and restoration is being able to map out the scope of the harm. While some government and private industry resources exist to help in this regard (Lifelock, ID Shield, etc), identity theft is still a vastly under-reported crime and little research or follow-up is done for the large majority of cases occurring each year. Without appropriate tracking and accessibility of information, it can take several months or even years to draw out the poison of a bad actor in your personal information and data. With a criminal sphere and impact that exceeded $40 billion in damages last year, it's a pervasive problem that can always use more attention.

From a practitioners perspective, one of the most dreaded impacts to deal with is trying to work with healthcare and insurance providers when information is used for medical theft of services. One of my past clients had their data appropriated and used for medical care through an insurance database breach. After that, the client had magically developed diabetes and lupus, bringing with it a host of phantom prescriptions that were eventually traced to an online pharmacy fraud. While the client got their information squared and resolved, it took 18 months and the equivalent of approximately $6,500 in attorneys fees alone to fix the issue and the client's medical history.

Hopefully none of you have had to deal with anything close to that. Identify theft has thankfully received a good bit of national media attention over the years and the Federal Trade Commission has worked to keep consumers informed and updated on current trends, methods, and protections available to ward off any potential danger. Some of it appears to be working, at least nationally. Results from 2022 show that reported damages were down approximately 15%. Unfortunately, total losses from consumer identity theft cases still exceeded $20 billion. The reduction seemed to come, in part, from more numerous and more stringent government regulations placed on the financial services industry. The regulatory framework served to lessen the risk exposure of clients and increase the gatekeeping function that banks provided for their customers.

So, all of that is nice and academic, but what the heck does any of it have to do with trucking?

It might help to frame it this way: Most of my truckers are on the road almost every day, hundreds of miles away from home, using their credit cards at different stops across the country and probably doing a good number of online transactions. It's the life of a trucker, and while it can certainly be an adventure, it also increases identity theft and breach opportunities. Every transaction and point of contact runs the risk of someone running an intercept, an RF scanner, or just snapping a cell phone pic of your credit card numbers while they ring you out at a restaurant. With so many opportunities and so many methods available, truckers are more susceptible to this harm than other consumers.

A more succinct framing: Since 2018, supply chain attacks via theft and fraud have increased by 2,600% in six years and the total victim count is up by 1,400% in that time. Traditional identity theft measures are a large part of that wave.

Well, then, what do we do about it?

There are dozens of 'tips' that can help reduce risk of victimization from identity theft, but all of them really boil down to a few basic ideas:

1. Limit Information Sharing: Minimize sharing personal information, use security settings on social media, and provide your Social Security number only when absolutely necessary. Try using the same credit card for all traveling expenses, preferably one with a strong fraud alert and liability policy. Do not divulge unnecessary information if you can avoid it (using an EIN as an independent contractor helps solve this). Internet activity is the largest risk factor here, so lessen your exposure by trying to stay 'anonymous' and for gosh sakes don't do any banking or other business over free wi-fi.
2. Monitor Your Financial and Business Data: Regularly check your account statements for unfamiliar purchases. Maintain a detailed record of purchases and reconcile your accounts regularly to help identify potential fraudulent charges. Most credit card companies provide credit score and report access, use them or a reputable third-party service to regularly check your credit for activity. Regularly log into the FMCSA SMS portal to monitor your USDOT number for any unauthorized use and make sure an Exam Report doesn't hit that you weren't aware of.
3. Know Who You Are Doing Business With: When engaging in business transactions, verify the legitimacy of the shipper, broker, or freight forwarder. Obtain and check the broker's authority for licensing and ensure alignment with the FMCSA's website. Verify the adequacy and active status of the broker's bond for shipment coverage. Conduct credit checks and confirm contact details. Ensure the broker's listed phone number matches the FMCSA website. If discrepancies arise, contact the listed FMCSA number to confirm legitimacy, considering that some transportation providers operate through agent or satellite offices. The main office listed online can always validate the information.

If any breach or suspicious activity is seen, it must be reported immediately to the appropriate agencies. For personal credit issues, the steps available include a credit freeze (NOT a fraud alert, those are not very helpful), report to the business(es) affected and any others you have accounts with that someone has your information, and possibly the filing of a police report if you have suffered actual monetary harm. For the trucking side, in addition to all that you are also letting DOT know (www.fmcsa.dot.gov/mission/help/broker-and-carrier-fraud-and-identity-theft) and your state driving authority.

There is a lot of information out there regarding identity theft, and I certainly encourage you to read up on it as you like. If you keep the above information in mind and actively act as if everyone is out to get you, then you should be fine. Maybe.

Hashtags: #cdldrivers #roadsafety #identitytheft

Sources: 2023 Identity Theft Research Center Annual Data Breach Report; FTC Consumer Alert of 4-13-2022 and 10-05-2023; “The Security Culture Playbook: An Executive Guide To Reducing Risk and Developing Your Human Defense Layer.” [2022, Wiley]

Legal Disclaimer: The information contained in this article is provided for informational purposes only, and should not be construed as legal advice on any subject matter.

More Disclaimer: This article is written to provide a surface-level introduction to the identity theft problem and its presence in the industry. This space, unfortunately, isn't big enough to cover all the ground you would need to for a comprehensive look.

One tool all drivers have that can help them on a few of these is their smart phone. Phone cameras can be used to help you remember all the details of a transaction or drop. It’s rare for a driver to remember the license plate number of a trailer they picked up to transport, but a quickly snapped photo “remembers” it for you. Taking photos of paperwork can provide shipment details that may help in the event of theft. Pictures can preserve details you may not notice — and they can be saved to an external card or cloud storage after delivery if you need to clear out phone memory.

And then there's the whole phishing/social engineering aspect. E-mails should never be trusted, really, for official business unless you are expecting that specific message from that specific e-mail address OR you call the sender to verify they sent it using your own confirmed contact information for them. Lots and lots of bad people out there looking for any way to mess with you.

Stay vigilant and be careful!

Until next time.

Copyright: ?2024 Zac Hargis, Attorney for Riggs Abney Law Firm. All rights reserved.