Fraudsters Did Not See This Coming...

In this week’s episode of the FreightCaviar Podcast, we sat down with the team from WireBee, a fraud prevention technology software company. Co-founders Andre Temnorod, Solomiya Tomkiv, and their Technical Co-Founder, Alex Boruz, share the story behind WireBee, explain how their software detects fraudsters, and what they’re currently building.

Andre Temnorod’s Journey into Tech and Telecom

Andre, originally from Ukraine, immigrated to the US in 1990. From building custom computers, he entered the telecommunications industry by launching his own company, Broadvox, in 2001, which he successfully sold in 2015. Three years later, he co-founded RingLogix, a white-label VoIP platform, which is still operating today.

The Founding of WireBee

What ultimately led to the creation of WireBee– and brought Andre, Solomiya, and Alex together– was their shared desire to revolutionize the way logistics companies pay for services. As they uncovered other serious issues in the industry, they realized that, with Andre’s background in telecommunications and their combined expertise, they were well-equipped to tackle broader problems, including fraud.

Solving the Spoofed Call Problem

The WireBee team realized that one of the main problems in the industry is how easy it is to spoof calls.

“We noticed that when it comes to phone communication, when a broker posts a hot load, he’s flooded with phone calls. There are several problems that we identified where brokers have no idea who they’re talking to when they’re picking up the phone.”

How WireBee's Technology Works

So how exactly does their technology work?

“We use metadata that’s available at the phone carrier’s level to identify the probability of the call being spoofed. As we deliver that call to the broker through our service, we indicate if there’s a probability of that call being fake in real-time."

Andre says, that when a broker posts a ‘hot’ load, they get flooded with phone calls, since smaller brokerages don’t have enough human capacity to answer each and every call that comes in and identify the carrier.

“One of the biggest reasons why the scammers are still able to get these loads is because carrier sales reps just didn’t have enough time to vet them properly and make a few extra calls.”

Screening and Blocking Suspicious Calls

With their screening technology, WireBee takes the information that is available with the call and looks at the broker’s assessment tools, such as Highway, as well as the carrier’s assessment for that particular broker. When fraud is detected, the carrier is left a message.

“We let the caller know that at this time, for whatever reason, such and such broker cannot work with them.”

The call is also run through the MC database, and if the number detected is associated with an unknown number that is not listed in the database, they are then asked to confirm their MC number.

Managing Call Volume with Smart Queuing

The next challenge WireBee set out to solve was the overwhelming volume of incoming calls brokers receive. Thanks to their Selective Queue option, where all the calls waiting are already identified and the broker can see who is calling, they can pick who to talk to. 

A Human-First Approach to AI Integration

WireBee is also working on a solution for agents that aren’t ready to completely transition to using AI-powered technology. 

“Our perfect customer is a broker that wants to preserve human communication. We don’t let AI decide whether the load is going to get booked completely through that agent or AI. The initial line of questioning is simple, “What’s your MC?”, and you can make a lot of decisions based on that before you decide to transfer it further on, but if you don’t want to lose these calls, then AI can take them. You don’t need to utilize it unless absolutely necessary.” 

New Feature: Tracking Third-Party Dispatchers

With a recently added feature, you’re now able to see third-party dispatchers calling from the same number, dispatching from multiple MCs. With WireBee accumulating information across multiple brokers, if you’re a customer, there’s an icon you can click that displays all the MC numbers that the particular caller ID has.

Customer Feedback: WireBee’s Real-World Impact

The feedback from their customers is a true testament to the quality and innovation of their product. 

They’ve noticed the ratio of calls being booked by e-mail rising from 50 to 80%. Brokers using their product are switching their business back to phone calls because they already have the validation they need when they pick up the call. 

“Their carrier sales burnout rate is way down. People are just happier to do what they’re doing. When you have to sit and take 200 calls a day, and hang up on 150 of them, that’s not good for your mental state.”

Dylan Morris, General Manager at Phalanx Logistics, and WireBee’s very first customer, says that the company’s technology has transformed the role of carrier rep – from a role with the highest turnover rate to one that is enjoyable again. With a lot of the backend work now automated by WireBee’s platform, reps can spend more time on a more meaningful and productive conversation. 

Looking Ahead

We’re excited to see the future of WireBee and all the ways it will revolutionize the industry. 

Listen to the entire interview on Apple Podcasts, or Spotify, or watch it on our YouTube channel.