Shippers often worry about the safety of their shipment when working with a new transportation company. Forwarders have already duped many, and intermediaries have let others down. So, we’ve prepared a guide on how you can save yourself from shipping and freight fraud.

Six Tips On How To Save Your Shipment From Freight Fraud:

Here are six critical tips on how you can stay safe and conduct secure shipping operations. 

Know Your Terms:

First and foremost, you need to read through the agreement terms carefully. Get to know every clause so you can identify any loopholes the shipper may be sneaking into the agreement. 

A significant chunk of fraud and duping happen when you ignore the terms and conditions. There is no one-size-fits-all situation, and every sale is treated differently. So, go through the terms and prepare for any scenarios. 

Trust:

Trust is a hard-earned value. If you are signing an agreement with a new vendor, you should take several safeguards. It would help if you familiarize yourself with terms like bills of lading and proof of payment. Sometimes banks also provide a letter of credit for buyers. These forms of documents are insurance against fraud.  

Once you have developed a certain level of trust, you can use discretion. 

Verify Their Authenticity:

Verify the company and the owner you’re dealing with. They should be a legal and genuine entity. It would be ideal to be careful around some intermediaries companies but pretend to be the suppliers and manufacturers.

When dealing with a new manufacturer, make sure their company is genuine. You can do that by paying a visit to their main office.

Choosing The Right Partner:

As an exporter or importer, you will have to hire a freight forwarder or a customs broker. Try looking for one that has a solid professional reputation in the market. Sometimes shippers opt for the run of the mill agents who blackmail them into giving more money and still don’t deliver on time.

Look for companies with good reviews. You can also check customs or ports authorities for recommendations.

Learn And Explore:

If you have a business related to transportation, export or imports, you need to know how the process works. Don’t just focus on what concerns you. Try to learn every aspect of the whole operation.

This process will help you prepare for any mishaps. When you know the ins and outs of the operation, you will know who to go to when you have a problem.

The Costs of the Freight:

To know the costs, you can do market research. This research will help you understand what kind of costs you should pay.

FAQs

Q- How do fake shipping scams work?

Sometimes fake shipping scammers use public email servers. This is one unambiguous indication that you’re dealing with fraud. Established transporters never carry out any communications except through a company email. 

Q- Some examples of freight fraud.

There are many ways in which scammers carry out their fraudulent activity. 

• Sometimes they withhold your Bill of Lading to get the ransom. This is an example of an online scam. 
• Sometimes they use the names of established transporters and earn money from clients. 
• In some instances, your whole cargo gets stolen by the scammers. 

Conclusion:

These tips aren’t in any way exhaustive; there are a lot of other considerations you need to consider. These are just a few tips you should never ignore. Keeping your freight protected against fraud and mishaps is an important responsibility. Going through the points mentioned above will undoubtedly give you peace of mind.

Also Read: All You Need To Know About Supply Chain Resilience