Watch out for misleading marketing and "phishing" scams
Commerce and Compliance Division (CCD) is aware of recent fraudulent practices seeking to take advantage of motor carriers.
Phishing scams usually consist of sending emails or letters claiming to be from reputable companies in order to convince individuals to reveal personal information, such as passwords, credit card numbers and more.
New entrant applicants are often targets of phishing scams, receiving confusing or misleading solicitations by telephone, e-mail, text and mail. Scammers may obtain your company’s information when you submit an application or update your information with FMCSA, because your basic carrier information is publicly available.
Motor carrier service providers and third-party administrators can and do provide valuable services to motor carriers. The use of a private entity or company to assist you with compliance is an option. The use of a service provider is not required by FMCSA. Further, the U.S. Government and ODOT do not endorse private businesses or vendors. Carriers should take all necessary precautions to ensure they are conducting their business with legitimate third-party service providers.
One current phishing scam that has hurt carriers across the country comes from “DOT Service” or “DOT Compliance Group.” These letters claim that carriers are at risk of hefty penalties and losing their USDOT number unless they take urgent action.
This is a scam. If you receive any correspondence from these parties, do not share any of your information with them, and do not pay them for any services to maintain your USDOT number.
If you ever have questions about the status of your USDOT number, remember that there are three ways for you to determine the status of your USDOT number:
As always, remember that ODOT’s official site for motor carrier transactions is Oregon Trucking Online (TOL).
If you receive any letters or emails and have any questions at all, feel free to contact CCD or FMCSA prior to taking any action.
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