The Ghost Broker: You Paid a Deposit and No Truck Is Ever Coming

What it is

A ghost broker looks like a real shipping company — polished website, friendly phone manner, paperwork with the right vocabulary — but there is no operation behind it. No carrier network, no dispatch desk, and in many cases no license. The entire business is collecting deposits for transports that will never happen.

This is different from a bad broker. A bad broker books your car badly. A ghost broker never books it at all. Your pickup date passes, the excuses pile up, and then the phone goes quiet — because there was never a truck assigned to your order in the first place.

How it works, step by step

1. The setup looks professional. A clean website and a confident sales pitch. The contract, if you read it closely, is vague: it may not name the carrier, may not say whether transport is open or enclosed, and may not give an exact pickup window.
2. You're asked for a large "reservation deposit" to lock in your date — sometimes the full price upfront.
3. No carrier is ever assigned. That is the core of the scam: the step that makes a shipment real never happens.
4. Pickup day passes. The excuses arrive on schedule: "The truck broke down." "We're waiting for another vehicle to fill the route." "The driver is delayed — we'll call you back in an hour."
5. Communication stops. Calls go to voicemail. The company is collecting deposits and stalling — until chargeback deadlines pass, or customers simply give up.

A documented case from the BBB Scam Tracker (April 2026) shows the pattern: a consumer lost a $399 "reservation" deposit to a company called LoHi Logistics LLC — after which another $2,040 was demanded for a "dispatcher," and communication stopped. The complainant noted that the credentials appeared valid. Appearing valid is the product being sold.

Red flags

• A large deposit demanded upfront — or full payment before the car moves.
• Payment requested by wire, Zelle, Venmo, or Cash App — methods that can't be reversed.
• No carrier or driver information provided within a reasonable time after booking.
• Constant rescheduling, but never any carrier details to go with it.
• No real dispatch updates — just apologies and new promises.
• The company has no FMCSA registration you can find and verify yourself.

How to protect yourself

• Know what a legitimate deposit looks like. Real brokers generally charge a small deposit — roughly $100–$250, about 10–20% of the total — and per FreightWaves' consumer guidance, only after a carrier is confirmed. The balance is paid to the driver on delivery. A big deposit before any carrier exists is the scam's signature.
• Refuse full prepayment. Kiplinger's guidance to consumers: don't work with a company that requires a non-refundable deposit, or payment in full before shipping, or won't say in writing that the deposit is refundable.
• Pay by credit card. Traceable payment through a real merchant account is what gives you a dispute path later. A company that insists on untraceable payment is telling you, in advance, that it doesn't intend to be reachable.
• Get the written agreement before any charge — and read what it doesn't say. A real contract identifies the transport type and the process for assigning your carrier.
• Verify the company on FMCSA yourself (USDOT and MC numbers, legal name, active authority). Don't accept a screenshot or a claim — check the record with your own eyes.

If it already happened

• Act fast on the money. If you paid by card, contact your issuer immediately and dispute the charge — the scammer's stall tactics are designed to run out exactly this clock. If you paid by wire or cash app, contact the provider anyway and report the fraud; recovery is harder, which is the point of their payment demands, but a report still matters.
• Save everything: the contract, receipts, emails, texts, call logs, and the dates each excuse was given. That timeline is your evidence.
• Report the company to the FTC (ReportFraud.ftc.gov), FMCSA's National Consumer Complaint Database (1-888-DOT-SAFT), the BBB, and your state attorney general. File a police report — deposit theft is fraud, not a service dispute.
• Check whether the "company" is impersonating a real one. Ghost operators sometimes borrow a legitimate carrier's name or numbers. If the FMCSA record's phone number differs from the one you've been calling, call the number on the federal record and tell that company their identity is being used.

On Dispatch A Car, a carrier can't register with credentials that merely "appear valid" — the USDOT/MC and legal name entered at signup must match the FMCSA record, and an insurance certificate made out to Dispatch a Car LLC has to be on file before the account is complete.