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Virtual Addresses

Aug 21, 2024 at 03:37 PM CST
+ 2 - 1

I'm honestly curious - why would a business use a virtual address and not their physical address?

Replied on Thu, Aug 22, 2024 at 07:38 AM CST

It might be because they are a foreign entity laundering money through the American trucking industry.

Replied on Thu, Aug 22, 2024 at 12:00 PM CST
Quote: "It might be because they are a foreign entity laundering money through the American trucking industry. "

This is what I'm wondering...I mean, are there legit reasons to have a virtual address when you're not a celebrity or public figure of some kind? I'm trying to understand why I'm seeing this so much.

Replied on Thu, Aug 22, 2024 at 07:49 PM CST
+ 1

I think some ppl may live in say California but they open business in let's say Indiana. They will need an address that is associated with said llc in Indiana because they are a resident of California. This only pertains to some

Replied on Fri, Aug 23, 2024 at 02:04 PM CST
Quote: "I think some ppl may live in say California but they open business in let's say Indiana. They will need an address that is associated with said llc in Indiana because they are a resident of California. This only pertains to some "

Well that I can understand. But I've seen strip malls being used as their business address. Just looks odd

Replied on Mon, Aug 26, 2024 at 03:34 PM CST

Unfortunately, it's almost always a scam.

Replied on Tue, Aug 27, 2024 at 03:49 PM CST
- 1
Quote: "Unfortunately, it's almost always a scam."

That is exactly right. I have some friends that are investigators with FMCSA. They are overwhelmed with fraud investigations right now. The vast majority of overseas brokerages, and dispatch services are scamming the industry and they make themselves appear legit by using virtual addresses. A common scam going on now is where an overseas dispatch service advertises they are "hiring" carriers with their own authority. We should all know that dispatch services do not hire anybody. It is the owner operator or small fleet operator that hires the dispatch service. The fraudulent dispatch service gets the unsuspecting O/O to send them all the documentation necessary to use your authority or sell your info to other scammers who use your info to lease others on to your authority. Many times, the person scammed doesn't know anything until they get inspections on their file from trucks they don't know about, there is an insurance claim, or someone is looking to be paid for loads they had nothing to do with. My friends tell me to log in check my carrier profile weekly, and do my best to only work for people I already have relationships with. It is truly the wild wild west out there right now.

Replied on Wed, Aug 28, 2024 at 11:30 AM CST
Quote: "That is exactly right. I have some friends that are investigators with FMCSA. They are overwhelmed with fraud investigations right now. The vast majority of overseas brokerages, and dispatch services are scamming the industry and they make themselves appear legit by using virtual addresses. A common scam going on now is where an overseas dispatch service advertises they are "hiring" carriers with their own authority. We should all know that dispatch services do not hire anybody. It is the owner operator or small fleet operator that hires the dispatch service. The fraudulent dispatch service gets the unsuspecting O/O to send them all the documentation necessary to use your authority or sell your info to other scammers who use your info to lease others on to your authority. Many times, the person scammed doesn't know anything until they get inspections on their file from trucks they don't know about, there is an insurance claim, or someone is looking to be paid for loads they had nothing to do with. My friends tell me to log in check my carrier profile weekly, and do my best to only work for people I already have relationships with. It is truly the wild wild west out there right now."

This is what I suspected and am always cautious about. It's really a shame. But if they can't at least use their home address (that's what we did when my husband was an owner op) then it doesn't look right.