Same LFS Shield engine for everyone: see how it works, step by step →
Carrier-first brokers onboard carefully
I'm carrier-first, and the best thing a broker can do for honest carriers is keep the fake ones out. Every load handed to a chameleon or a stolen identity is a load an honest truck didn't get, and a shipper who now trusts you less.
Your onboarding desk sees it all: new MC numbers, reactivated authorities, packets with insurance certificates, W-9s, NOAs and signed agreements. Shield sits right there. LFS has beta-tested it on its own freight for more than three years, and it runs inside LFS AOS. Want the engine details? Read how Shield works.
Chameleon carriers
A chameleon closes one company and opens another to shed a bad record. The name is new. The people, phone, email domain, address and equipment often aren't.
Shield looks for those threads: an authority that's brand new but shares contact details with an older one, a web address registered last month, an email domain that doesn't match the company name. It reports what it found and why, and leaves the decision to your team. It never merges look-alike names on its own.
Fake shippers work the same angle from the other side of your desk. Read the shipper scam that targeted LFS.
Fake carriers and stolen identities
Some "carriers" are a real company's MC number with somebody else's email and phone. The packet looks perfect because it was copied from the real one.
Shield checks the contact against what the real carrier publishes and what's on the authority record. A phone that exists only in this packet, or an email one letter off from the real domain, gets flagged before that "carrier" ever sees your load.
Hidden malware in packets
Packets are full of PDFs, spreadsheets and zipped folders, and your onboarding team opens them all day. That's the perfect delivery route for malware.
Shield opens nothing blind. Malware scanning is built in, so every packet file is checked: macros, embedded scripts, files pretending to be PDFs, malicious links and remote-access lures. A poisoned packet can't take over the account your team uses to post and tender loads.
After onboarding: stopping double brokering
Onboarding a carrier is step one. Shield then follows each load: the carrier you tendered to, the truck that shows up, who sends the POD and who invoices. A different carrier at pickup, a second rate con or an NOA from an unknown factor gets flagged before the freight is gone.
Paying the right carrier
The worst call is from the carrier who hauled your load and never got paid, because someone else invoiced first. Shield compares who hauled with who's claiming money and holds new bank or factor details until they're verified. The honest carrier gets paid, and so does your reputation.
Your name, protected
Scammers impersonate brokers too. Shield catches look-alike domains built to resemble your brokerage and keeps a private evidence vault (files, fingerprints, timestamps) for when you need to prove what came from you and what didn't.
It's fair by design: allegations are kept separate from evidence, appeals are allowed, signals expire, and there's no blacklist or paid rating.
Brokers, start with the fake shipper Shield caught, then the full Shield overview, the case for Shield and the carrier and dispatcher guide. Carriers can keep their compliance files current in LFS Compliance. More at Logistical Forwarding Solutions.
FAQ
Can LFS Shield spot a chameleon carrier?
It flags new authorities that share phones, emails or other details with older companies, and shows why, so your team can decide.
What if a packet has malware in it?
Each packet file is quarantined and inspected before it opens. Bad files stay locked.
How does it catch a fake carrier using a real MC number?
It compares the packet's phone and email to the real carrier's published contacts and the authority record.
Does it help after the carrier is onboarded?
Yes. It watches the truck at pickup, the POD, the invoice and any NOA for double brokering signs.
Will it label carriers as scammers?
No. It keeps evidence and allegations apart, allows appeals and keeps no blacklist.
Is it free for brokers?
Yes, starting with select companies. Request early access.
Warnings for your job
Built around your job
Carriers →
Owner-operators and small fleets: photos, BOLs, PODs, fuel receipts and rate cons from the cab, and keeping the truck paid.
Dispatchers →
Booking on a carrier's MC: rate cons from brokers you don't know, checked before you book.
Brokers →
Onboarding carriers: packets, W-9s, COIs and authority checked for chameleon carriers and hidden malware.