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Alleged 'Recruiter' Scamming Driving Schools, Students

LITTLE ROCK — A person claiming to be a motor carrier recruiter has been preying on truck driving schools and driving school students, The Trucker has learned.

According to reliable sources, the man, who gives his name as Johnny Brooks, has been calling truck driving schools around the country. He tells school officials that he is a recruiter for a major carrier and asks for the names and contact information of the school's top five students.

He varies the name of the trucking company for whom he claims to work when he calls the driving schools, but normally it is the name of a major carrier that the school officials would easily recognize.

Once the man gets the names and contact information, he contacts the students and tells them he has a job for them. If the student agrees to come to work for the alleged recruiter's company, the man asks the student to send money, usually by wire, for certain expenses related to relocating the student, sources told The Trucker. The amount of the request varies.

On several occasions, the man has been successful in getting money from a student, but of course, there is no job waiting for the student.

The man has been using a telephone number in area code 504, which is primarily the Greater New Orleans area.

Calls to that number were answered by a man who said he didn't know anyone by the name of Johnny Brooks.

Driving schools who might receive such a call should either notifiy local law enforcement authorities and/or the their state's trucking association.

The Trucker staff can be reached to comment on this article at [email protected] .