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Scams

by Mike Masnick

Wed, Oct 22nd 2008 2:43am




Filed Under:
man in the middle, scams, trucking


Scammers Run A Trucking Company With No Trucks

from the the-magic-of-computers dept

You have to admit that there are some creative scammers out there. Take, for example, a group of Russian immigrants, who used their hacking skills to effectively run a trucking company that didn't exist. They would hack into a Department of Transportation website that listed licensed trucking firms to change the contact info (temporarily) on certain firms to their own address and phone number. Then, they would go to another online site that listed cargo in need of transportation. They'd pose as the firm whose contact info they'd replaced, get the deal, and then go find another trucking firm to actually deliver the cargo. The cargo itself would get delivered, and the scammers would contact the original cargo owners to get paid. Then, the company that actually delivered the cargo would contact the company these scammers pretended to be working for, and discover that it had no clue what they were talking about. Apparently, this scam was effective enough to net the scammers over a half-million dollars. Of course, it wasn't effective enough to keep them from getting arrested.

24 Comments | Leave a Comment..


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  1.  
    identicon
    Trucker, Oct 22nd, 2008 @ 3:38am

    I don't get this. People try to innovate with new business models and they get called scammers and stuck in the slammer?

    Get a grip.

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  2.  

    Re:

    identicon
    Dave, Oct 22nd, 2008 @ 3:56am

    I think the issue is that they effectively subcontracted the work (which is OK), but kept all of the money.

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  3.  
    identicon
    Anonymous Coward, Oct 22nd, 2008 @ 4:09am

    I've always had a soft spot for scammers/con men. Whenever I hear of them getting caught and punished, it always feels like too harsh a punishment.

    I know they make serious trouble for many people etc... but still. They're so cool.

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  4.  

    re

    identicon
    Scrathing my head, Oct 22nd, 2008 @ 4:35am

    Idiots. How can you condone breaking the law? How would you like being the independent owner/operator that got stuck with the cost of delivering said goods.

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  5.  

    Re: re

    identicon
    ;), Oct 22nd, 2008 @ 5:00am

    Sarcasm

    ---------


    Your head

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  6.  

    I disagree

    identicon
    martyburns, Oct 22nd, 2008 @ 5:10am

    As someone who has no part to play in the matter, it entertains to read about it and marvel at peoples cunning. I know it would suck to be at the receiving end, and I would feel different if I was, but I'm not, so I think its clever regardless of being illegal.

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  7.  

    Supposing...

    identicon
    The i-Team, Oct 22nd, 2008 @ 5:30am

    Supposing these people put that much time and energy into developing legit business models, they'd probably end up quite well off.....

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  8.  

    Re: Supposing...

    identicon
    Anonymous Coward, Oct 22nd, 2008 @ 6:15am

    Seriously, these guys are probably smart enough to come up with a legitimate (only criminals use the word "legit", btw) business...

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  9.  

    Re: Supposing...

    icon
    chris (profile), Oct 22nd, 2008 @ 6:26am

    Supposing these people put that much time and energy into developing legit business models, they'd probably end up quite well off.....

    and get sued for infringing on a vague patent on some business process?

    nah, better to get in and get back out before the big time criminals and their lawyers show up.

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  10.  

    Re: Re:

    identicon
    jonnyq, Oct 22nd, 2008 @ 6:32am

    Or, you know, the whole hacking and fraud thing.

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  11.  
    identicon
    Anonymous Coward, Oct 22nd, 2008 @ 6:59am

    Very cunning, smart and cool. Kudos to law enforcement for reigning this criminals in but I still have to toast the bad guys from being cool.

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  12.  

    Re: Re: Supposing...

    identicon
    ehrichweiss, Oct 22nd, 2008 @ 7:23am

    MC Hammer sought for questioning.

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  13.  

    Re: Re: Re: Supposing...

    identicon
    asdf, Oct 22nd, 2008 @ 7:37am

    Mr. MC you're being accused of hammering when it was indeed, not "time".

    How do you plead?

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  14.  

    Sounds To Me Like What US Businesses Do Every Day

    identicon
    Mark Regan, Oct 22nd, 2008 @ 7:48am

    Example: Guys need money to start up a business. They print and issue stock certificates. Sell stock on Wall Street to stupid people (mostly taxpayers). When the business fails, stockholders and retirees and employees lose. Businessmen don't lose, because they call up their buddy, George Bush, for a bailout with taxpayer money. Deal done. Bush prints money and gives it to his business buddies who promptly pay themselves hundreds of millions of dollars for the "risk" they took in starting the business. Bush sends bill for the bailout of his business buddies to taxpayers and their children. Oh, isn't Capitalism great?

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  15.  

    Crime as a business model

    identicon
    Mojo_Death, Oct 22nd, 2008 @ 7:53am

    Crime, in many ways is a "legit" business model. No matter the industry, it seeks to maximize profit and minimize expense.

    The down side of course, (and the thing that keeps most people out of it) is that the potential profits seldom out weigh the penalties that will most certainly be imposed on a criminal level.

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  16.  

    Crime as a business model

    identicon
    Mojo_Death, Oct 22nd, 2008 @ 7:53am

    Crime, in many ways is a "legit" business model. No matter the industry, it seeks to maximize profit and minimize expense.

    The down side of course, (and the thing that keeps most people out of it) is that the potential profits seldom out weigh the penalties that will most certainly be imposed on a criminal level.

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  17.  

    Re: Sounds To Me Like What US Businesses Do Every Day

    identicon
    Mojo_Death, Oct 22nd, 2008 @ 7:57am

    What you are describing is not capitalism, and only demonstrated your ignorance of the issue at hand.

    Sorry to burst your naive, socialist bubble.

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  18.  

    Re: Sounds To Me Like What US Businesses Do Every Day

    identicon
    interval, Oct 22nd, 2008 @ 8:45am

    Yeah. Capitalism breeds criminals. So much worse than the mass murderers Communism breeds. Or the "give a shit about anything" attitude of Socialism. You're so right.

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  19.  

    Re: Sounds To Me Like What US Businesses Do Every Day

    identicon
    Bob, Oct 22nd, 2008 @ 9:18am

    Markie, what you have just described is not free market capitalism but Stalinist socialism.
    I might suggest a bit of reading beyond Karl Marx' Communist Manifesto.
    Maybe some Adam Smith, Ludwig von Mises, and a bit of Max Weber.

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  20.  

    Re: I disagree

    identicon
    nasch, Oct 22nd, 2008 @ 9:29am

    What I love about it (from an abstract sort of view) is that the cargo, which the scammers didn't care about at all, actually got delivered! It seems like the usual scam is to say I'll provide a service, get payment, then not provide the service. These guys actually provided the service, then got payment, and then screwed over the service provider. Clever indeed - and I'm glad they got caught too.

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  21.  

    Hardly a new Biz Model

    identicon
    Lickity Split, Oct 22nd, 2008 @ 10:48am

    It's called a truckload brokerage firm and there are thousands of them out there and it is VERY competitive...

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  22.  

    You can't touch him!!

    identicon
    The i-Team, Oct 23rd, 2008 @ 1:58am

    You can't touch him!!

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  23.  

    as illegal as this is...speaking...

    identicon
    Erik L, Oct 23rd, 2008 @ 7:13am

    as illegal as this is...speaking of the fraud and hacking...you have to give these guys props for coming up with the whole thing.

    as The i-Team said, Supposing these people put that much time and energy into developing legit business models, they'd probably end up quite well off.....

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  24.  

    Re: by Trucker

    identicon
    Innovative?, Nov 14th, 2008 @ 2:21pm

    How is stealing the services of a company an innovative business model? I guess for the crooks, yah!

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]


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