In 2022, the commercial trucking industry experienced an unprecedented rise in fraud. From stolen freight to card skimming to first-party fuel fraud, the heavy-duty trucking industry has been facing attacks from all angles.  

Even with the fraud prevention tools built into the Multi Service Fuel Card system, accounts that hadn’t set or maintained parameters could still be at risk from savvy fraudsters. Detail-oriented customers who reviewed each statement could report suspicious activity on their account for risk assessment, but there was still too much opportunity for fraudulent activity to go undetected by unsuspecting customers. 

We set out with a mission to proactively mitigate fraud on our cardholders’ behalf.  

With the transaction details collected behind the scenes on a fuel card purchase, we wanted to assess trends within an account’s specific purchase behavior or in comparison to similar fleets across the Multi Service Fuel Card portfolio as a whole.   

In Q4 of 2022, we identified an AI solution provider, specializing in fraud identification called Unit21. With Unit21’s AI algorithm, Multi Service Fuel Card has been able to implement “rules” that flag suspicious activity at the time of card authorization.  Now, instead of waiting for a customer to review their bill and report a false charge a week or two after it happened, a Multi Service Fuel Card representative is able to reach out to the customer within hours of a suspicious authorization occurring and stop a fraudulent charge from ever being billed to begin with.  

The program has resulted in a 40% reduction in customer fraud claims from our customers and we continue to evaluate system “rules” to enhance this fraud protection for our customers. For more details on our work with Unit 21, you can read their full case study here. 

Customer Diligence Remains Important 

As we at Multi Service Fuel Card continue to enhance our platform and fraud prevention measures, it’s important to also make sure each fleet is taking advantage of the security measures available on their individual accounts.  No two fleets operate the same way. Building your fuel card program parameters to match your fleet’s unique requirements makes it more difficult for bad actors to take advantage of your good credit. Below are some reminders for optimal account set up.  

Unique Usernames and Passwords: Each user accessing your account should have their own unique username, password and email address associated with that user profile.  This is important for a number of reasons: 

• The more people sharing a user profile, the more opportunity there is for the profile credentials to be stored somewhere or shared with someone they should not have been.  

• When a user makes a parameter update to an account, such as allowing money codes or increasing fuel allowances, the username of the individual who made the change is logged with that action, but if multiple individuals are allowed to utilize the same credentials, this username is unhelpful is tracking down the individual making changes to the account.  

• If one person updates the password for the shared username, it can lock other individuals out of the account and create significant hurdles in regaining access.  

Issue One Card Per Driver: Similar to usernames and passwords, each driver handling a single card on the account is considered best practice. When managed this way, each purchase made on a specific card number is easily traced back to a driver and their log.  This is especially helpful in today’s digital wallet era where we also recommend leveraging a mobile app where possible to pay for fuel (see our blog post on mobile fuel payments for more on that topic), because once one card is saved within the driver’s mobile wallet, it becomes more difficult/confusing to switch to the “right” card for each transaction.  

Utilize your Card Security Features:  The types of fuel that can be purchased, how many gallons can be purchased at a time, the prompts that are required at the pump such as PIN, Odometer and Unit Pool, are all parameters that can be adjusted at the card level to help your fleet mitigate risks of fuel fraud on your account. Setting these at the account level and then adjusting (and regularly reviewing) at the card level is your best opportunity to prevent fraudulent activity on your account.  

 

Vigilance Over-the-Road Cannot be Underestimated. 

If your account administrator has set all of the appropriate parameters on your fuel card account and Multi Service Fuel Card has algorithms working in the background to identify anomalies in transaction data, does that mean your account is safe from fuel fraud.  Unfortunately, not.  

Fraudsters are savvy and relentless. Everyone with a hand in the transaction process must take precautions each step of the way. So, we’ve also published a set of security tips for drivers to be aware of over the road.  Make sure they are aware of the parameters you’ve set for them and why those guardrails are important to your business and encourage them to take precautions while they are fueling as well. 

It's our combined efforts that will make life as difficult as possible for these fraudsters.