Cargo theft has surged dramatically in recent years. Criminals no longer need to force their way into a truck or infiltrate a warehouse. Today’s cyber-enabled cargo thefts rely on digital manipulation to redirect shipments before anyone realizes what’s happened.

The scale of the problem continues to grow. Cargo theft incidents across the United States and Canada hit 3,625 in 2024 — a 27% increase from 2023 — with the average theft valued at over $200,000.1 In the first half of 2025 alone, there was a 33% increase compared with Q2 of 2024. Electronics, copper, food and beverage are the most frequent targets.2

This “strategic” cargo theft exploits company vulnerabilities in the digital supply chain. Criminals can now steal millions of dollars’ worth of goods using social engineering, identity theft and fraudulent broker setups.

There are several sophisticated tactics criminals use to carry out these schemes, including:

  • Authentication gaps — Bad actors exploit weak onboarding and vetting protocols. Some acquire legitimate USDOT numbers, giving shell companies instant credibility to bypass basic verification checks.
  • Double brokering and fictitious pickups — Activity tied to double brokering has increased by as much as 400% in some regions.3 Criminals obtain shipment rights (often via identity theft), then re-broker the load to an unsuspecting legitimate carrier, delivering the cargo to a criminal-controlled warehouse instead of the intended destination.
  • Identify theft and impersonation — Cargo theft by social engineering is on the rise. Thieves steal motor carrier and broker identities using tactics similar to business-email compromise. By creating nearly identical email domains or infiltrating real inboxes, they can impersonate legitimate carriers and gain access to load assignments and delivery instructions.
  • Pilferage — Criminals alter bills of lading electronically and remove just a pallet or two per shipment. The pilferage often goes undetected until later inventory counts.

Driving the surge are several factors, namely organized crime rings operating in freight-rich regions such as California and Texas in the U.S. and Ontario in Canada.4 Also perpetuating the theft is the expansion of digital load boards and online brokerage platforms that have created new attack vectors,5 while resale marketplaces make it easy to offload stolen goods.

The real business impact

Cargo theft is now a major operational and financial threat for transportation operators and freight brokers, thanks to the dangerous intersection of cyber risk, operational disruption and insurance challenges.

In one recent example, criminals created fake trucking profiles, spoofed GPS signals and sent convincing emails — including fabricated breakdown photos — to explain a delayed delivery of a high-profile tequila brand. The company didn’t realize anything was wrong until weeks later, lost $1 million in product and had to lay off employees.

Insurance complications intensify the problem. Motor carriers often carry cargo insurance but lack cyber coverage. When a loss is cyber-enabled, cargo policies may not respond. High-target commodities such as food and beverage, alcohol, electronics and pharmaceuticals are also facing elevated scrutiny from insurers.

How to stay off the target list

The only effective response to strategic cargo theft is prevention. Here are several steps to take:

  1. Train staff, including drivers, dispatchers and customer service teams to spot red flags.
  2. Implement multilayer identity verification (including phone-number authentication, domain validation and MC/DOT cross-checks). Require verified driver IDs and confirm pickup and delivery details through multiple channels.
  3. Update contracts to clarify liability for double-brokering, identity theft and misdirected loads.
  4. Work with an insurance broker to identify gaps between cargo, cyber and crime coverage, ensuring limits match today’s loss trends.

Contact a HUB transportation advisor to learn more about how to protect your cargo from theft in today’s risk landscape.

1 Verisk CargoNet, “2024 Supply Chain Risk Trends Analysis,” January 21, 2025.
2 National Insurance Crime Bureau, “Cargo thieves boosted 33% more freight than a year ago: Report,” August 12, 2025.
3 Transport Topics, “Reports of Double-Brokering Increase,” April 10, 2023.
4 Overhaul, “United States & Canada: Annual Cargo Theft Report 2024,” accessed November 22, 2025.
5 DiMarket, “Freight Broker Load Board Industry Growth Trends and Analysis,” May 5, 2025.