Once upon a time, cargo theft was a fairly straightforward crime: Criminals would break into a truck or train car, check whether it held valuable shipments, and make off with the goods.
Computer technology, however, lets criminals trade their crowbars in for keyboards to help carry out cargo theft.
Close to $725 million in cargo was stolen in the United States and Canada in 2025, according to Verisk CargoNet, more than 12 times the value of cargo criminals stole in 2021.
In June, the FBI field office in Philadelphia warned that criminal organizations have adopted cyber-enabled tactics to steal shipments (opens a new window).
The widening scope of cargo theft
The problem is pervasive enough to have caught Congress’s attention. In May, the U.S. House, by a 348-60 vote, passed the Combating Organized Retail Crime (CORCA) Act (opens a new window), which gives law enforcement tools to prosecute the theft of interstate shipments. Those include criminal forfeiture to seize stolen shipments and the ability to prosecute stolen shipments under money laundering statutes. CORCA was referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
This means carriers and logistics businesses need new ways to detect theft, protect their cargo, and hold adequate insurance if criminals pilfer their shipments.
The rise of artificial intelligence also arms cybercriminals and other threat actors with tools to make their attack methods, such as impersonations and the creation of seemingly authentic invoices, more realistic.
How the cyber element of cargo theft occurs
One example of how these schemes happen may look like this:
A threat actor gains unauthorized access to a carrier’s network and learns how shipping-related documents are created and what they look like.
The threat actor creates bogus versions of crucial shipping paperwork, such as invoices, manifests, and bills of lading, that direct a truck to an otherwise unplanned stop on its way to its intended destination.
Criminals meet the truck at the destination and skim off part of the shipment before the truck proceeds back to its intended route.
These schemes, if carried out carefully, can be difficult to detect and result in significant losses before they’re noticed.
What transportation companies can do to protect themselves
Carriers, trucking companies, and warehouses reduce instances of AI-enabled cargo theft by taking steps to protect their cybersecurity:
Carefully review emails that contain suspicious links or purport to be shipment requests, route manifests, and delivery details.
Pay particular attention to email addresses to ensure they aren’t slightly different versions of trusted contacts.
Vet cargo carriers and brokers. Third-party services can help with these evaluations.
Verify by phone or in person any electronic request to change typical routines, such as changes in destinations or routes.
Implement cybersecurity practices, like multifactor authentication.
Carriers should also consult with cargo brokers about whether and to what extent their cargo insurance coverage protects them against stolen cargo. Brokers can help determine whether their existing insurance limits and exclusions align with the type of cargo that carriers are transporting. Carriers don’t want to find out after a theft that their policies didn't cover, for example, high-value electronics.
An experienced insurance broker may also help carriers and logistics companies determine whether they should carry any type of cyber or crime insurance to offer additional protection.
For more risk and insurance insight, please click here (opens a new window).