Orphans and Potential Fraud - Things To Consider with Account Releases

Over the years,  we’ve come to learn that Orphan shipments are not completely preventable, but it is possible to mitigate their damage through numerous different methods and techniques that ultimately result in a catch-all safety net. 

We have built reference sheets through database tables, created SOPs for Account release forms, made cold calls to shippers - the lengths we go to ensure that each shipment can be billed out are really quite extensive This is reflected in the philosophy in which we conduct our due diligence - to maximize Partner profits by retaining as much gross revenue as possible.

This brings us to the next evolution of this black hole that we know as “Orphans.” The fact of the matter is, when we’re dealing with as many account releases as we have nowadays, Partner participation becomes absolutely necessary to some degree. BF has tried to keep Partners out of the grunt work of investigating for the most part, and we only reach out to Partners when we’re only 80% sure it's from a particular client. However, we’ve realized our limits in this area, as there is only so much information we can acquire on our own. We’re missing the relationship factor a Partner has with their clients.

The reality is Partner participation is actually instrumental to the whole process. We cannot get this done without your help, as we can only see so much by looking at a bunch of invoices and spreadsheets, which is why we have created an “Orphan” profile for each Partner number in REMS specifically for BFS to add Orphan shipments to. If we’re ever unsure, and require that extra step with confirmation, our team will be dropping these airbills into your Orphan profiles two weeks ahead of time to give you ample opportunity to conduct your own due diligence. We will then notify you via email letting you know where to find these shipments in Search Airbills.

To bring this full circle, I also want to re-emphasis the importance of having a tight Account Release policy with your clients. By releasing the account numbers, it is a Partner’s responsibility to ensure that the accounts are not passed around by the client. Avoid Full Platform Releases if you can. These are oftentimes the most dangerous situations and rampant abuse appears most often with these types of account releases - especially scenarios where a client goes to a UPS or FedEx store and creates a shipment using a BF account number.

Lastly, I want to point out that the frequency of fraudulent shipments observed within our BF offices has significantly increased. This is our new reality, and why cybersecurity itself is such a booming industry today. Especially with the increase in AI technology, systems/emails/logins become easier to compromise by the day. It is important to think about your own cybersecurity, as well as consider how secure your clients systems are, especially when you’re giving a BF account number directly to a client. Through the implementation of stringent account release policies and processes, we hope to achieve an environment free of "Orphans."