Fraud

Cargo theft is not slowing down. It is adapting. What used to happen outside the operation is now happening inside it.

Dale Prax makes the case for cross-platform collaboration on freight fraud — and explains why the industry can’t afford to keep working in silos.

DOJ targets organized cargo theft and freight fraud, elevating federal focus within the logistics industry.

Freight fraud exposed: $10M scam highlights logistics vulnerabilities and cargo theft risks.

Nearly $4 million in stolen cargo was recovered in a Los Angeles County case tied to multiple companies, with one arrest made following a search warrant in Vernon.

Cargo theft incidents are being linked to motor carrier authorities that appear legitimate but may be controlled by unknown operators.

FBI warns of rising cyber cargo theft, as cybercriminals increasingly target freight industry operations

More than 300,000 carriers operate in a system that cannot fully verify who is behind each authority. With limited enforcement and disconnected data, fraud continues to enter through the front door. This May, industry leaders are heading to Washington, DC to address the problem at its source.

A Florida man has been charged in a federal case involving more than $600,000 in stolen onions and potatoes. Prosecutors say the scheme relied on posing as a legitimate business to secure and redirect shipments.

The driver isn’t always taking the load. They’re creating the moment where it can be taken.

Most cargo theft does not start with a truck. It starts with access that looks legitimate until it is too late.

Happy Returns, a unit of UPS, is adding 1,700 no-label, no-box returns locations to its network and looking to expand returns service for products that can’t be consolidated.

The industry points to billions in losses, but that number only captures what can be seen. When you factor in hidden activity and indirect costs, cargo theft becomes a much larger and more persistent risk.

Discover how a $287K VIN fraud scheme exploited the trucking industry using false identities.

Rob Carpenter breaks down what it was like working with 60 Minutes on their explosive segment about chameleon carriers and the Super Ego network.

This was not stopped by a process. It was caught by chance.

Stolen freight worth $1M recovered by deputies, preventing major cargo theft loss.

One gap was all it took. By the time it was noticed, the load was already too far gone to recover.

Owners of two trucking companies and two U.S. Postal Service employees were sentenced to prison for a bribery scheme aimed at securing transportation contracts.

Two trucks carrying $470K in stolen vehicles were intercepted, but the real risk is how they moved through legitimate freight channels undetected.

Fraud is no longer obvious. It hides inside companies that look legitimate but have not been verified.

By the time the product was found, it was already positioned to move through resale channels. That’s not a recovery story. It’s a reminder that most losses start long before a load is ever picked up.

The Federal Aviation Administration has slapped civil penalties on three companies, including Verizon, for endangering airlines by violating hazardous material shipping regulations.

Winners to be announced at the Freight Fraud Symposium in Cleveland.

From the US to the UK to Europe, the pattern is the same. Control shifts early, and by the time it’s noticed, the freight is already gone.

More than 400,000 KitKats were stolen in transit, but the product itself is still traceable. Nestlé’s response shows how even a chocolate bar can carry the signal after the load is gone.

Cargo theft persists even with all checks passed, revealing gaps in freight verification.

Danielle Spinelli’s CHP ride-along exposed massive organized rail cargo theft in the Mojave Desert. Broken seals and empty boxes litter the tracks as theft rings use slow trains, shoelace markers and on-site pallet breaking to steal millions.

The owner of an Amazon delivery service provider was recently convicted of defrauding the retailer of nearly $10 million.

Join us on May 20 in Cleveland.

Discover the MC number market and learn about the FMCSA’s efforts to curb illegal trades in this underground industry.

Discover emerging identity verification gaps in military logistics and their national security implications.

Explore freight fraud tactics as stolen loads and identity scams plague logistics, evolving with new threats.

Huge losses in Illinois’ commercial auto assigned risk plan are fueling claims that weak auditing and fleet misreporting may be distorting the state’s trucking insurance market.

Walmart has agreed to pay $100M to dismiss a lawsuit by the federal government and 11 states that it deceived app-based delivery drivers about pay they would receive.

Next-generation cargo theft often looks legitimate right up until the freight is gone.

Are ELP out-of-service violations actually effective law enforcement?

Members of an organized criminal gang that stole trucks with millions of dollars of merchandise received prison sentences ranging from nearly three years to 13 years.

In the fast-paced world of e-commerce logistics, mergers are often hailed as game-changers, promising synergies, expanded networks, and economies of scale. But for FAST Group—the entity born from the August 2025 merger of Australian parcel delivery firm Sendle, U.S.-based FirstMile, and ACI Logistix—the honeymoon was short-lived. Just months after the deal closed, Sydney-based Federation Asset […]

Regional airline Air Cargo Carriers has paid a settlement to resolve charges it defrauded the U.S. Postal Service by fudging time stamps to hide late deliveries.

A family-owned San Francisco tile business was defrauded of nearly $200,000 in merchandise when criminals used fake credentials to orchestrate a strategic cargo theft.

U.S. authorities have forced a $1 million settlement payment from a Miami-based all-cargo airline for allegedly defrauding the U.S. Postal Service.

Most of the companies in our industry are being robbed by people using the equivalent of a ladder and basic tools.

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Office of Inspector General recently closed to major cases of fraud and mail theft.

An Amazon driver shot a U.S. Postal Service worker when they crossed paths at an apartment complex.

The U.S. trucking industry is facing a crisis of overcapacity, safety lapses and national security risks, exacerbated by decades of deregulation and lax enforcement. Since March 2018, the number of active for-hire carriers has nearly doubled from 138,000 to 212,000 today, a 54% increase. According to SONAR’s OTVI index, freight volumes are only 1.2% higher […]

DOT has issued an information request to gather data on challenges and potential solutions related to freight-market theft.

The Tech Roundup is a weekly rundown of advancements and news in the FreightTech space. This week: Tai and Navix team up to simplify freight audit and accelerate cash flow, Highway expands McLeod integration, and Roambee rebrands to Decklar. Tai and Navix team up to simplify freight audit and accelerate cash flow The often-overlooked world […]

The Federal Aviation Administration penalized three companies for improperly shipping hazardous materials on FedEx and UPS aircraft.

Enhance carrier vetting and onboarding with MyCarrier Portal’s integration for improved safety and fraud prevention.

Thieves have stolen eight trucks of cargo from Ceva Logistics in the past year.

Highway lands major investment for Carrier Identity platform to tackle fraud in the freight industry efficiently.

A Ceva Logistics truckload with millions of dollars worth of electronics from Apple and other manufacturers was stolen in Reno, Nevada.

Allianz Commercial’s annual Safety and Shipping Review has found that cargo theft is increasing in frequency, scope, and sophistication.

(The views expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of FreightWaves or its affiliates.) “BE AFRAID OF FREIGHT FRAUD!”  It’s no surprise when another freight fraud headline lands in our inbox, shows up on LinkedIn, or makes its way into a conversation.  Freight fraud is a trending […]

The Freight Fraud Crisis The trucking industry is grappling with a surge in freight fraud, leaving carriers, brokers, and shippers vulnerable to sophisticated scams like identity theft and unauthorized double brokering. These schemes disrupt supply chains, undermine trust, and cause significant financial and logistical challenges. The root cause is the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s […]

Highway has changed the game of carrier identity.

Motive combines fleet and spend management.

Eliminating fuel fraud with unique QR codes and flexible business rules.

Truckstop operationalizes its vast data warehouse with AI.

Samsara’s Asset Tags provide a rich new data stream.

Tive has raised the bar for high-value shipment security.

Intelligence, security, and control for the inbound call process.

Freight fraud has emerged as one of the most rapidly growing and financially devastating risks in today’s global supply chain landscape. With global cargo theft losses exceeding $80 billion in 2023 and the average cost of a successful fictitious pickup surging to $365,000 per incident in Q1 2024, the industry has been desperately seeking more […]

Echo Global Logistics has emerged as a standout performer in the freight industry’s battle against fraud, earning recognition as a winner of the 2025 FreightWaves Fraud Fighter Awards. With an impressive record of delivering over one million truckload shipments in 2024 while maintaining a loss rate of less than 0.01% due to theft, Echo has […]

Descartes’ MyCarrierPortal leverages real-time Incident Reports to continually vet your network.

Crowley was one of 10 winners of the 2025 Fraud Fighters Award.

Now on demand on WHAT THE TRUCK?!? Dooner is joined by Carrier411’s Darren Brewer

The Department of Justice has charged four individuals for allegedly stealing U.S. Treasury checks from postal facilities.

Nikola Founder Trevor Milton releases documentary aiming to set the story straight about his fall from leadership.

In this edition: Senate considers 2 bills to combat freight fraud; Zillow for warehousing.

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, a group of Russian hackers has gone into overdrive. As Western countries began ramping up military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine, the GRU focused on the logistics and tech companies that support those flows.

The U.S. government says it moved to block a businessman and his two logistics companies from using fake postal labels to ship parcels from China to the United States.

From oversharing on socials to leaving systems unsecured, your data can smooth the path for freight fraudsters.

Highway’s Michael Caney explores the importance of an identity layer in vetting practices, know-your-customer principles and technological solutions to verify carrier capabilities

Overhaul’s CEO breaks down why today’s cargo theft crisis is less about missing locks and more about missing identities – and what the supply chain must do to fight back.

Polar Air Cargo is gone, but another person involved in a criminal conspiracy to defraud the company years ago just got sentenced to two years in prison.

Fraud Watch analyzes Overhaul’s 2025 Q1 Mexico cargo theft report

Transportation providers and tech startups are among the winners of the 2025 FreightWaves Fraud Fighters Awards.

Freight broker Landstar System reported a messy first quarter, dragged down by insurance costs, fraud and stolen cargo.

State and federal officials are looking at ways to close loopholes and tighten regulations that govern how non-U.S. truck drivers gain the right to operate within the U.S.

Texas law enforcement, faced with a sharp increase in the number of truckers who had the Mexican equivalent of a U.S. CDL, used an informal geography test to learn that many of those individuals were from Honduras, Guatemala or other nations.

There is no easy fix: Enhancing trucking safety and driver competence, as well as combating CDL fraud, will take an all-hands-on-deck effort at every level of government.

Fraud Watch also salutes a detective fighting cargo theft in Philly.

This week: We examine freight fraud stats and close the case on some stolen vehicles.

Broker Landstar System has delayed its first-quarter report as it further investigates what it says was fraud tied to an independent agent working under its freight forwarding operation.

Importers bringing goods into the U.S. were improperly declaring imports that racked up $310 million in fees.

We’ve all heard how emerging AI technologies will optimize the freight industry in ways we can only dream about. But the scary truth is that AI is already fueling our nightmares—by supercharging freight theft. Why aren’t more people talking about the dark side of AI? For one, most of the worries are centered on job […]

Importers, customs brokers and freight carriers could be exposed to higher fraud risks as a result of Trump’s rapid-fire, unpredictable tariff regime.

Who will win the top fraud-fighting award at the inaugural Freight Fraud Symposium in Dallas?

Key strategies for combating fraud involve certificates of insurance for supply chain partners. 

On Episode 829 of WHAT THE TRUCK?!?, Dooner is talking to one of the most amazing owner-operators on the road: Roger Machback. Machback lost his arm in a boating accident but didn’t let that keep him out of the cab. Instead, he designed his own prosthetic arm so he could keep on trucking. Now, he […]

Fraud Watch examines potential increases in customs fraud whistleblowers.

Investors have responded to the revelation, disclosed in a late Wednesday 8-K filing, with Landstar’s stock taking a hit over the past 24 hours.

Federal transportation officials at the Mid-America Trucking Show discussed a deregulatory approach that aligns with the Trump administration’s policy of eliminating 10 regulations for every new one introduced.

This week: We review KAL Freight’s legal troubles

Join us for a one-day Freight Fraud Symposium in Dallas, Texas, on May 14, 2025.

This week: Shoppers share safety concerns, and we examine theft on the railroads

Fraud remains one of the biggest threats to the freight industry, with bad actors constantly adapting their tactics. Lisa Haubenstock, VP of product at Truckstop, dives into the issue and the strategies companies can leverage to stay ahead.

Fraud has been a constant in the 3PL industry, but it’s gotten more sophisticated as criminals get smarter, says Transportation Intermediaries Association President Chris Burroughs.