Synthetic identity

The Federal Reserve's industry-recommended definition of synthetic identity fraud is the use of a combination of personally identifiable information to fabricate a person or entity in order to commit a dishonest act for personal or financial gain. The word entity matters here: in freight, the synthetic is often the company.

A synthetic carrier might pair a newly formed LLC with a virtual office address, a VoIP phone, a fresh domain and a new authority. It may run small loads and get paid properly for weeks to build history, then submit a large batch of invoices or fuel advances and vanish. Motus now requires identity proofing for new applicants and adds business verification, which raises the bar for a fully fake registration but says nothing about who controls the bank account later.

Know-your-business checks help: Secretary of State records, EIN confirmation, address and phone type, domain age, and a bank account held in the entity's exact legal name. See the new authority risk guide.