Cargo thieves love the holidays. That time of year when the industry ships a higher volume of desirable, in-demand goods. Appliances and furniture, food and beverages, and electronics are hot commodities. Warehouses and distribution centers are top targets. It’s also the time of year when we face immense pressure to deliver more packages, faster than ever before, amid higher rates and tightened capacity. Mistakes are more easily made under stress, and the bad actors know it.
I’ve been fighting freight fraud for 30 years — at American Backhaulers, C.H. Robinson, and now Uber Freight — and it’s the worst I’ve ever seen. These schemes have been around for years, but what concerns me now is the persistence, sophistication, and volume of attacks are unlike any other. And with today’s technology, bad actors can communicate, share intelligence, and move around the country faster than ever before.
In Q3 2024, CargoNet recorded 776 cargo theft events in the U.S. — up 14% compared to last year’s Q3. In Q2, cargo theft events were up 33% year over year. In Q1, a substantial 46% year-over-year increase. It’s been a record-breaking year for theft. I expect it to end that way, too. The time to prepare for a fraud event is now, before it happens to you.
Shippers and freight brokers alike must be diligent. At Uber Freight, our multilayered approach to fraud prevention has reduced incidents in our network by more than 80% year over year. Here is our playbook to protect your cargo, company, and customers from freight fraud:
- Industry collaboration and relationships with law enforcement are crucial.
- Create an actionable response plan for what to do when fraud finds you.
- Have strategic security-led partners in place.
Join the fraud fight: Get involved in the industry and with law enforcement
Our fragmented industry makes it challenging to target and fight fraud. Working together and sharing information is how we win. There are many ways to get involved. At Uber Freight, we gather and share intelligence weekly with brokers, shippers, carriers, industry partners, and law enforcement, and it has proven to help mitigate and prevent criminal acts.
Relationships with law enforcement are critical. Our senior investigator at Uber Freight — a 20-year veteran of the FBI — liaisons with law enforcement agencies nationwide and collaborates with the industry to build more complex cases for prosecution.
Regional task forces like the Southwest Transportation Security Council, Southeastern Transportation Security Council, and Midwest Cargo Security Council bring together brokers, shippers, carriers, and localized law enforcement teams to foster relationships and share schemes unfolding in the same places that your freight travels. This is a great way to get a referral for a law enforcement contact in a specific area of the country who knows cargo theft.
As a CargoNet member, share fraud events with a national cargo theft network of more than 120,000 officers and 9,000 police agencies. Report fraud incidents to TIA WatchDog to help others decide which carriers to run with. GenLogs, with its intelligence and sensor network, recently released a free tool to help companies locate missing assets.
Join the effort behind the inaugural Freight Fraud Awareness Day — which was in October, ahead of this year’s peak — to build awareness, foster collaboration, and encourage transparency and reporting. The industry continues to mobilize and innovate to fight fraud together. Now is the time to join in.
Build your fraud response plan in 4 steps
Shippers must have a documented response plan for how teams should react to a fraud incident. A coordinated plan saves time and increases the likelihood of a recovery event. Store a hard copy in case of a cyber attack. Build your fraud response plan in these four steps:
1. Assess your operation.
Find your security vulnerabilities and fill those gaps before the bad actors find them and exploit them. Prepare for your highly marketed, must-have items to be on criminals’ holiday wishlists. Keep a bird’s-eye view on these hot-ticket loads with a transportation management system (TMS), which provides real-time shipment status and location. Also, talk to your freight providers about assigning only trusted, top-performing carriers to these loads.
2. Know which shipment details to gather fast.
In a fraud event, you’ll need to swiftly gather shipment details for law enforcement. Identify who has access to these details along with where they live and what they are — type of product, amount of product, type of packaging, incident location, driver name and cell number, truck and trailer license plates, cell number for contacts at your freight providers, and so on. Transportation teams can quickly retrieve many of these details in their TMS.
3. Organize contact information for local law enforcement.
Once you have your shipment details, make this call as soon as possible. Filing an official report gives law enforcement teams a place to start their investigation, including access to tools like license plate readers. Build these relationships ahead of a fraud event by inviting local law enforcement to meet with your warehouse security teams on the ground.
4. Create a plan of action that defines everyone’s roles.
Your internal stakeholders, brokers, and asset providers must understand the minutiae of the plan to act quickly and save time. For example, is your legal team aligned with handing over product information or video of a driver to law enforcement? What role will you play versus what roles will your freight brokers and asset providers play in an event?
Once you’ve drafted a plan, run regular exercises to identify gaps in your response, update it with always-changing contact information, and allow your partners time to refine their response before a theft occurs.
The Many Layers of Security Defenses: People, Process, and Technology
The best security defenses fold in many layers of people, process, and technology to monitor and weed out bad actors. If a customer is a victim of fraud, our 50-person Risk and Compliance team mobilizes for communication with the customer around the scope of the incident and provides transparency into our investigation as it evolves.
Our layered strategy helps customers and carriers mitigate against fraudulent activity and starts with onboarding checks and continuous compliance monitoring. For example, if a carrier’s operating authority is revoked, our system terminates access to the Uber Freight platform. Account controls help ensure only verified users have access to load data. And our Carrier Trust Score uses machine learning, automated intelligence, and third-party data to assess the level of cargo risk associated with certain carriers to help protect against fraudulent actors.
As industry fraud continues to rise, this layered approach has enabled us to reduce incidents in our network so far in 2024 by more than 80% year over year.
Now is the time to align with your freight brokers on their security measures
Choose freight brokers that are like-minded in their approach to fraud. Speak to the security lead at each organization to learn about their security measures and vet their carrier qualification protocols. They should also be connected with industry associations like the Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA), a trusted provider of tools and resources for reporting fraud and monitoring fraud trends.
Your partners should fold in every layer possible to protect your cargo as if it were their own. At Uber Freight, we always look for new tech, opportunities, providers, and data sources that we can layer into our controls and procedures to fight fraud.
Giving your team an organized response plan increases the chances of a positive outcome and sharing your unique fraud experiences with the industry helps in that fight. Sharing intelligence, resources, and best practices is how we mitigate what’s coming. These bad actors are sophisticated and determined. But so are we.
Chris McLoughlin is Senior Director of Operations – Risk and Compliance at Uber Freight. Last year, CargoNet awarded Uber Freight the Best in Cargo Security Award.
I’ve Fought Freight Fraud for 30 Years: Here’s How to Protect Your Supply Chain in 2025
Cargo thieves love the holidays. That time of year when the industry ships a higher volume of desirable, in-demand goods. Appliances and furniture, food and beverages, and electronics are hot commodities. Warehouses and distribution centers are top targets. It’s also the time of year when we face immense pressure to deliver more packages, faster than ever before, amid higher rates and tightened capacity. Mistakes are more easily made under stress, and the bad actors know it.
I’ve been fighting freight fraud for 30 years — at American Backhaulers, C.H. Robinson, and now Uber Freight — and it’s the worst I’ve ever seen. These schemes have been around for years, but what concerns me now is the persistence, sophistication, and volume of attacks are unlike any other. And with today’s technology, bad actors can communicate, share intelligence, and move around the country faster than ever before.
In Q3 2024, CargoNet recorded 776 cargo theft events in the U.S. — up 14% compared to last year’s Q3. In Q2, cargo theft events were up 33% year over year. In Q1, a substantial 46% year-over-year increase. It’s been a record-breaking year for theft. I expect it to end that way, too. The time to prepare for a fraud event is now, before it happens to you.
Shippers and freight brokers alike must be diligent. At Uber Freight, our multilayered approach to fraud prevention has reduced incidents in our network by more than 80% year over year. Here is our playbook to protect your cargo, company, and customers from freight fraud:
Join the fraud fight: Get involved in the industry and with law enforcement
Our fragmented industry makes it challenging to target and fight fraud. Working together and sharing information is how we win. There are many ways to get involved. At Uber Freight, we gather and share intelligence weekly with brokers, shippers, carriers, industry partners, and law enforcement, and it has proven to help mitigate and prevent criminal acts.
Relationships with law enforcement are critical. Our senior investigator at Uber Freight — a 20-year veteran of the FBI — liaisons with law enforcement agencies nationwide and collaborates with the industry to build more complex cases for prosecution.
Regional task forces like the Southwest Transportation Security Council, Southeastern Transportation Security Council, and Midwest Cargo Security Council bring together brokers, shippers, carriers, and localized law enforcement teams to foster relationships and share schemes unfolding in the same places that your freight travels. This is a great way to get a referral for a law enforcement contact in a specific area of the country who knows cargo theft.
As a CargoNet member, share fraud events with a national cargo theft network of more than 120,000 officers and 9,000 police agencies. Report fraud incidents to TIA WatchDog to help others decide which carriers to run with. GenLogs, with its intelligence and sensor network, recently released a free tool to help companies locate missing assets.
Join the effort behind the inaugural Freight Fraud Awareness Day — which was in October, ahead of this year’s peak — to build awareness, foster collaboration, and encourage transparency and reporting. The industry continues to mobilize and innovate to fight fraud together. Now is the time to join in.
Build your fraud response plan in 4 steps
Shippers must have a documented response plan for how teams should react to a fraud incident. A coordinated plan saves time and increases the likelihood of a recovery event. Store a hard copy in case of a cyber attack. Build your fraud response plan in these four steps:
1. Assess your operation.
Find your security vulnerabilities and fill those gaps before the bad actors find them and exploit them. Prepare for your highly marketed, must-have items to be on criminals’ holiday wishlists. Keep a bird’s-eye view on these hot-ticket loads with a transportation management system (TMS), which provides real-time shipment status and location. Also, talk to your freight providers about assigning only trusted, top-performing carriers to these loads.
2. Know which shipment details to gather fast.
In a fraud event, you’ll need to swiftly gather shipment details for law enforcement. Identify who has access to these details along with where they live and what they are — type of product, amount of product, type of packaging, incident location, driver name and cell number, truck and trailer license plates, cell number for contacts at your freight providers, and so on. Transportation teams can quickly retrieve many of these details in their TMS.
3. Organize contact information for local law enforcement.
Once you have your shipment details, make this call as soon as possible. Filing an official report gives law enforcement teams a place to start their investigation, including access to tools like license plate readers. Build these relationships ahead of a fraud event by inviting local law enforcement to meet with your warehouse security teams on the ground.
4. Create a plan of action that defines everyone’s roles.
Your internal stakeholders, brokers, and asset providers must understand the minutiae of the plan to act quickly and save time. For example, is your legal team aligned with handing over product information or video of a driver to law enforcement? What role will you play versus what roles will your freight brokers and asset providers play in an event?
Once you’ve drafted a plan, run regular exercises to identify gaps in your response, update it with always-changing contact information, and allow your partners time to refine their response before a theft occurs.
The Many Layers of Security Defenses: People, Process, and Technology
The best security defenses fold in many layers of people, process, and technology to monitor and weed out bad actors. If a customer is a victim of fraud, our 50-person Risk and Compliance team mobilizes for communication with the customer around the scope of the incident and provides transparency into our investigation as it evolves.
Our layered strategy helps customers and carriers mitigate against fraudulent activity and starts with onboarding checks and continuous compliance monitoring. For example, if a carrier’s operating authority is revoked, our system terminates access to the Uber Freight platform. Account controls help ensure only verified users have access to load data. And our Carrier Trust Score uses machine learning, automated intelligence, and third-party data to assess the level of cargo risk associated with certain carriers to help protect against fraudulent actors.
As industry fraud continues to rise, this layered approach has enabled us to reduce incidents in our network so far in 2024 by more than 80% year over year.
Now is the time to align with your freight brokers on their security measures
Choose freight brokers that are like-minded in their approach to fraud. Speak to the security lead at each organization to learn about their security measures and vet their carrier qualification protocols. They should also be connected with industry associations like the Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA), a trusted provider of tools and resources for reporting fraud and monitoring fraud trends.
Your partners should fold in every layer possible to protect your cargo as if it were their own. At Uber Freight, we always look for new tech, opportunities, providers, and data sources that we can layer into our controls and procedures to fight fraud.
Giving your team an organized response plan increases the chances of a positive outcome and sharing your unique fraud experiences with the industry helps in that fight. Sharing intelligence, resources, and best practices is how we mitigate what’s coming. These bad actors are sophisticated and determined. But so are we.
Chris McLoughlin is Senior Director of Operations – Risk and Compliance at Uber Freight. Last year, CargoNet awarded Uber Freight the Best in Cargo Security Award.
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