Weighbridge Systems : Identifying Fraudulent Activity
Identifying Fraudulent Activity at Weigh Stations
The EZYWeight V6 has the ability to detect movement at weigh stations from remote locations on your iPhone and ID trucks going through it.
With the right weighbridge systems technology, you can protect your organization from potentially heavy financial and reputational losses. By learning more about the prevention of weighbridge fraud, you can reduce malicious weighbridge measurement activity to almost zero.
Weighbridge cheating is big business all over the world. In one case in South Africa, a group of malicious actors stole $2 million from an international company by allowing criminals to create tickets for nonexistent shipments.
The incident took place because a skilled operator worked with the criminal. Together, they colluded to create bogus receipts.
To learn how to identify fraudulent activity with weighbridge systems, continue reading.
Weighbridge Systems: Cheating Is a Serious Issue
The Hawks National Clean Audit Task Team is a division of the South African police force. They recently completed a year-long investigation into weighbridge fraud. The effort resulted in the arrest of 15 officials for corruption and fraud.
It also resulted in the arrest of several local contractors. The case involved nearly $17 million in fraudulent activity. In total, officials arrested 22 individuals.
The criminal group collaborated to create fake weighbridge receipts and used them to steal money from the municipality of eThekwini. The false receipts were for the removal of waste from the local municipality.
Most weighbridge systems owners owners are very aware that potential fraud is a problem. However, they often aren’t aware of how just much malicious actors already cheat the system. Unfortunate incidents, such as the one in SA, show the seriousness of the issue for all of us globally – South Africa is far from being unique and weighbridge systems operators in Australia need to take heed.
Without proper precautions, it can be remarkably easy to cheat a weighbridge. Unattended scales are especially tempting for malicious actors. Apart from that, drivers sometimes pay scale operators to overlook their criminal activities. There are several methods used by drivers:
How Drivers Cheat Weighbridge Systems
The biggest weighbridge vulnerability is operator absence which is easily remedied, but drivers have many other ways to cheat weighbridges when operators are present.
Sometimes, a driver will remove some of the load from the weighbridge. They might accomplish this by leaving the rear axle off the scale. By doing so, the scale fails to weigh a significant portion of the cargo. This ‘light cargo’ incurs lower costs on the truck operator, but also creates the potential for diverting cargo.
Alternatively, a driver might add weight to the load to cheat the scale. They can do this by working with another driver to increase the weight of the load. The second driver will park in axle on the scale, creating the appearance of a heavier load. This scheme will increase freight charges levied by the scale operator and the trucking company.
Weighbridge designers and operators are working hard to overcome these challenges. However, malicious actors are working just as hard to overcome those interventions. As one example of this, there are electronic devices that drivers can use to manipulate scales remotely – and in plain sight. Electronic manipulation is a sophisticated way of cheating a weighbridge. It’s also very difficult to detect.
Preventing Fraud on Weighbridge Systems
To protect yourself from today’s weighbridge culprits, you must embrace advanced technology. Some electronic methods detect scale manipulation. Others stop cheating before it occurs using anti-fraud alarms and notifications.
Weighbridge security software can help to eliminate fraud on your scales. Such security software can reduce financial losses to the minimum. Some weighbridge software is designed to work where human operators cannot see the scale. For example, it monitors the transaction when the weighbridge gate is closed and blocking the operator’s line of sight.
Other systems work by assigning passwords to operators. This kind of system also allows you to assign specific roles to appropriate personnel. By assigning passwords, you can limit access to your weighbridge software system. Accordingly, only authorized personnel can process transactions.
Once you’ve installed security software, you can detect attempts at manipulation within the limits pf the software and sensors, but you will also have a much better idea of what to look for after being trained. Weighbridge monitoring software maintains a tamper-proof log. It also reports attempts at manipulation.
Weighbridge security software makes a permanent record of all transactions. You can (and should) audit that information regularly. Criminals work hard to get ahead of you and frequent checks are an effective deterrent and detection solution.
The data recorded by an advanced weighbridge system can include a record of how many times an operator reprints a ticket, highlight any deviations from the normal and required reprints occur of ticket, or other sensitive document. Weighbridge security software can also monitor unauthorized alteration of tare weights.
Choosing a Weighbridge Solution
High quality weighbridge anti-cheating software generates a lot of data and allows it to be graphically plotted. This enables owners and managers to evaluate trends in activity. For example, if a driver or operator manipulates the scales, the scale owner will notice a sharp upward or downward spike relative to the day to day mean.
Weighbridge security software can also monitor unattended scales. The software can control cameras, giving you a visual record of all stages of the weighing process, and clearly highlighting any unusual and potentially fraudulent activity.
A typical audit trail can start with an alarm or data spike, which will help you to quickly find the corresponding visual record. This is not only effective at detecting weighbridge fraud but also at preventing it. With the right weighbridge technology installed, many criminals will simply find easier targets,
Weighbridge cheating potentially affects every industry whose materials are shipped by road. Weighbridge security software can help you to thwart malicious actors and prevent losses to every company up and down your supply chain.
For example, Weigh-More’s EZYWeigh V6 weighbridge systems software can help you to detect abnormalities, such as when vehicles cross your weighbridge without completing a transaction. If this happens, the software will send you a notification.
The software can also add the event to your business intelligence system. Using EZYWeigh V6, you can monitor your operation with real time counters and logs. Furthermore, logged events will include information that allows you to view an event via CCTV.
In a nutshell, The EZYWeigh V6 system from Weigh-More is a high-tech solution that can help you to identify and deter fraudulent weighbridge activity.
Leverage Technology to Prevent Weighbridge Fraud
Weigh More Solutions has served the weighing needs of organizations for more than 30 years. We’re the largest and leading industrial weighing supplier in Australia. Our company specializes in weighbridge systems, instrumentation and manufacturing.
We’re a family-owned business, and we’re committed to creating value for our clients. Visit Weigh-More.com.au to learn more about our equipment and software solutions.
Contact us online or call 1300 366 131 for more information. A friendly Weigh More Solutions expert is standing by and ready to help you fulfill your weighbridge needs.