Freight forwarding is a crucial need for any business when it comes to shipping products abroad. The logistic expertise that freight forwarders have makes the whole transporting process a lot more convenient for businesses.
It is important to take note, however, that fraudulent individuals also exist even in this industry. Because of growing competition among freight forwarding companies, these people will make the most out of the situation and attempt to scam businesses into hiring services with them.
As a client, it is extremely critical to be vigilant against red flags that can help in identifying freight forwarding scammers. Here are the tips on how businesses can avoid them.
This first tactic is called the Bill of Lading (BOL) Ransom.
First, being offered a ridiculously low price for sending goods to place is a very blinding bait that most businesses may get enticed into. But beware, especially if this is happening online.
Once a potential buyer has clicked the bait, they will now put a hold on the Bill of Lading or BOL. Since BOL serves as the business’ proof of a contract of carriage and receipt of the client’s goods, the port of shipment will never allow anyone to touch the sent goods unless it can be provided.
They will now demand a specific payment from the sender or risk the shipment in the process. A straightforward, but very effective way to scam clients.
This can be prevented by establishing prudency in their transactions. Knowing the cost of their shipment will make them aware of how to make efficient deals, especially online.
Businesses should look for a company with a legitimate website and make sure that there will be enough reviews and testimonies before setting any contracts.
The second tactic is called the Duplicate Name Scam.
In this scheme, scammers will try to duplicate or imitate names of legitimate companies, using fake sites to lure unwitting clients into unintentionally making transactions with them.
Scammers like this capitalize on the fact that a slight misspelling on the website can be overlooked most of the time.
Thus, they copy contents to make a fake website identical to a real one, in hopes that business will get baited into transacting with them instead.
Though it is very simple to differentiate bogus sites from authentic ones, it can still be tricky sometimes. The good thing is that this can be very easy to spot too!
By simply looking into the URL and making sure that the exact name and link address of the company is there, businesses can safely ensure that they will only deal with the legitimate company that could give them their wanted service.
Also being keen with misspellings or suspicious links on the page can always go a long way. Make sure that the company is also not located in any free hosting websites, such as .wix and the likes, as it also one of the red flags.
The last fraudulent tactic is called cargo theft.
In this scheme, scammers will target customers with high-valued cargos. Just like BOL, scammers will pretend as freight forwarders, then run away with the cargo once it is on shipment.
Though the method is also straightforward, it is highly effective as the scammers will surely get a hold of the shipment once they got the client’s trust.
To avoid this, businesses should practice vigilance when dealing with online transactions. Aside from ensuring that it is a legitimate website, it’s also good to check with the freight forwarding company as well.
Before agreeing with anything, smartly check their terms and conditions, especially when it comes to payment options and delivery time frame. Also, check if they are providing a working tracking or shipment number.
Most of all, check if the company has any available contact number and billing address. Having a way to keep in touch with them especially when it comes to delivering high-valuable items is a must.
Keeping an eye on the delivery status will let businesses know if there’s something with the package getting delivered, so as well as to contact their respective clients about the whereabouts of the package.
Entering a deal with a freight forwarding company can be a tough task to do. But after remembering these tips, any business can be sure that with enough vigilance, they can have no worries in delivering their cargo, anytime, anywhere.
Learned a lot from this? Check out this detailed infographic created and designed by Excelsior PH and find out more:
