Scammer caught — Update!

 Tom Maille , Corporate Security Manager at Werner Enterprises has reported to the Commercial Vehicle Training Association that 

“Richard Perkins is a 57 year old white male SCAM ARTIST. He is the criminal who scammed many of our student drivers or their families out of money on two different occasions – once in 2002 and again in 2006 after he got out of prison for his 2002 offenses. Perkins uses many aliases.  In 2002 and 2006 he was operating out of Las Vegas. He was arrested the other day in Biloxi, Ms., for trying to scam drivers or their families. Drivers or their family members from many different transportation companies have been his victims over the years. Perkins calls the motels and driving schools used by the transportation companies he targets  and solicits personal information from students staying in the motel or from the driving schools. His most used scam is that he asks for next of kin info, etc., under the pretense that he cannot read their handwriting on their application. He then contacts a family member of the student driver and tells them their son/daughter needs insurance money, guarantee money, etc., before the student can get on a truck and he will instruct the family member to wire the money to him at whatever town or city he is operating out of. When he calls the motels and the driving schools he passes himself off as calling from Werner or Swift or whatever company whose students are the current target of his scheme.  He may ask for info on applicants for a particular company and then he will call their families. He has been very successful in the past in obtaining the information he asks for. Following his arrest in Biloxi, Ms., he was released as the police there did not have a complainant so they had no choice but to release him. Thus he is again free and no doubt plying his trade at this time. According to the Investigator I worked with in Nevada on the previous cases Perkins has a BIG gambling and drinking problem – thus the reason he has turned up in Biloxi – lots of casinos there.  Biloxi P.D. Det. Shaw was my recent contact regarding Perkins and the source of the most recent info I have.”

Maille adds that 

“Werner is notifying their motels of this and reminding them to NOT give out any information on any of their students, drivers, or employees that are staying at their motels. They should also be told to NOT transfer any calls to any of our students. They should get the name and phone number of the caller and then let our student/driver/employee know of the message. If the caller refuses to give the info it is a pretty sure bet it will be Perkins calling.  The motel should also contact the terminal manager at their location to inform the Werner Terminal manager of the call and verify that it is a Werner employee calling.   The terminal manager should then notify you and I if the call is believed to be bogus.”

Reminder: schools should be cautious about giving out information on students over the phone. School personnel who receive those types of calls should contact a known carrier company representative to confirm that the request for information is genuine. Terminal Managers are requested to please talk to the Safety group that gives orientation and forewarn them of this scam so they can tell their classes of it.