Criminals target freight with fake IDs, spoofed emails and stolen identities

According to Highway’s Freight Fraud Index, freight fraud costs the transportation industry an estimated $18 million per day, while fraudulent email attempts increased 117% year over year. Organized crime groups are increasingly using AI tools to spoof broker identities, manipulate carrier data and divert shipments.

Fictitious pickups becoming more sophisticated

Greg Haber, president of Brooklyn-based Babaco Alarm Systems, said fictitious pickups remain one of the most challenging forms of cargo theft because criminals often exploit weaknesses in verification processes rather than physically stealing freight.

In a typical scheme, criminals may monitor email communications between shippers and carriers, learn when a high-value shipment is scheduled for pickup and send an impostor driver armed with fraudulent credentials to retrieve the load.

“They can send in a driver with a fictitious license,” Haber told FreightWaves. “They show up at the gate, show the license, and next thing you know the load is gone.”

Kossman said the challenge is that many fraudulent IDs are nearly impossible to detect without technology.

“The IDs are so high quality. They are manufactured abroad. You can get a fake CDL from pretty much all 50 states for $25 or less and it will look very legitimate,” Kossman said. “There are almost no red flags that would be visible to the naked eye.”

She said organized criminal groups often maintain inventories of fraudulent documents and fake identities, allowing them to execute theft schemes quickly when opportunities arise.

Identity becoming the new currency in transportation

De Muynck”s report said that the freight industry can no longer rely on traditional trust signals such as a motor carrier number and proof of insurance.

“For years, the transportation industry operated on a ‘handshake’ digital equivalent,” De Muynck wrote. “However, the sophistication of organized crime and a rapidly shifting regulatory environment have shattered those assumptions.”

The report describes a growing movement toward “identity-assured logistics,” in which carriers, drivers and brokers undergo high-assurance digital identity verification using government-issued identification and live-photo authentication before freight is assigned.

Haber said transportation companies need multiple layers of security rather than relying on any single technology.

“There is no magic wand that solves everything,” Haber said. “You need multiple layers of technology. Having the right driver approved, having the right company approved, having the truck with tracking is important.”

Food and electronics remain top targets

While cyber-enabled theft methods are changing, the commodities most frequently targeted by thieves remain largely unchanged.

Haber and Kossman said food and beverage products continue to rank among the most stolen cargo categories because they can be quickly resold and are difficult to trace. Electronics remain another prime target because of their high value and strong resale demand.

“Food and beverage and electronics are still the No. 1 and 2 most commonly targeted shipments,” Kossman said.

The executives cited recent thefts involving seafood, produce and electronics as examples of how organized groups continue to exploit weaknesses in freight verification systems.

Prevention starts before the truck leaves the dock

Both Kossman and Haber emphasized that preventing cargo theft increasingly depends on verifying the identities of carriers and drivers before a shipment is released.

Haber said companies should focus on validating carriers, confirming driver credentials, documenting vehicle information and digitally recording shipment data from pickup through delivery. Automated alerts tied to mismatched seals, incorrect delivery locations or unauthorized drivers can provide early warning signs before a shipment disappears.

Kossman added that many companies implementing identity verification technologies discover issues with 1% to 2% of driver credentials presented at pickup locations.

“The weakest link is that nobody talks to each other,” Kossman said, noting that many theft incidents go unreported and information sharing across the industry remains fragmented.

As freight fraud continues to evolve, both executives expect identity verification to become a standard part of transportation security.

“It’s growing exponentially,” Haber said. “Technology and digital communications are being used throughout everything.”