The New Face of Cargo Theft: Why Freight Fraud Is Outpacing Break-Ins

Cargo theft used to bring to mind a padlock cut in a dark parking lot. That image is outdated. Losses surged an estimated 60 percent in 2025 to around $725 million, and industry analysts believe the real number could be ten to fifteen times higher once unreported incidents are counted. More striking than the dollar figure is how the crime itself has changed.

Fraud Has Overtaken Force

Nearly a third of cargo theft incidents today involve no broken lock, no forced entry, and no alarm ever going off. Criminals are exploiting digital freight platforms, forged carrier identities, and insider information instead of bolt cutters. In the first five months of 2026 alone, CargoNet logged more than 1,120 incidents totaling roughly $121 million, and a growing share of those cases trace back to someone impersonating a legitimate broker or carrier rather than physically taking a trailer.

The "Trojan Horse" Problem

One of the more alarming tactics gaining ground is what's being called Trojan horse theft, where criminals pose as legitimate drivers or carriers to get freight assigned to them in the first place, then simply disappear with the load. Combined with double-brokering schemes and fake motor carrier numbers, this kind of fraud can be much harder to catch than a break-in, because on paper the pickup looks completely legitimate until the freight never shows up.

Why Every Carrier Should Care, Not Just the Victims

There is some movement on this. The 2026 federal budget set aside $200 million for truck parking improvements, and there's ongoing support for a bill that would put closer to $755 million toward converting old weigh stations and abandoned warehouses into usable truck parking. It's a start, but infrastructure takes time, and drivers are dealing with this problem right now, not years from now.

What Actually Helps in the Meantime

When a load disappears through fraud, it is rarely just the shipper who absorbs the loss. Legitimate carriers get their MC numbers spoofed and their reputations damaged, brokers face liability disputes over who was actually authorized to haul a load, and insurance costs climb industry-wide as claims increase. A single successful scheme can ripple through several companies that had nothing to do with it.

The most effective response has been building fraud checks directly into how loads get assigned and tracked, rather than trusting a phone call or an email alone. That means verifying carrier identity and insurance before handing off a load, confirming driver and truck details match what was booked, and treating a sudden change in pickup details or contact information as a red flag worth a second look rather than an inconvenience.

How EB Infinity Approaches It

At EB Infinity, protecting freight starts well before a truck reaches the dock. Carrier and driver identities are verified as a standard part of the process, not an extra step reserved for high-value loads, and unusual changes to a pickup or delivery are flagged and confirmed rather than assumed. In an environment where fraud has become more common than a broken lock, that kind of verification is no longer optional, it's basic due diligence.