During the first quarter of 2025, fraudsters leveraged the use of increasingly sophisticated methods, such as compromised carrier emails and caller ID spoofing, to deceive brokers, blocking over 400,000 fraud attempts in Q1 of 2025 alone, according to Highway’s Freight Fraud Index.
“As fraud rings adapt, they’re targeting the soft spots, which can include overlooked verifications, siloed systems, and gaps in the overall communication security of a company,” says Michael Grace, VP of customer risk management, Highway. “In the first quarter of 2025, Highway observed a steady increase in impersonation attempts, unauthorized contact changes, and bad actors attempting to gain access to broker networks. Our proactive approach blocked 352,134 fraudulent inbound emails, 30,921 spoofed phone numbers, 561 user access attempts in 42 countries outside North America, and more in our daily fight to protect the brokerage community and their valued clientele.”
Key takeaways:
· Citing the National Insurance Crime Bureau, the total losses in cargo theft are an estimated $35 billion annually, with a 1,500% increase in reported incidents since 2021. Despite this, unlawful brokerage has emerged as the No. 1 threat. This consists of hackers posing as legitimate brokers or carriers to hijack loads or payments.
· According to Highway data, the three fraud vectors that spiked in Q1 2025 are:
Sold MCs and ownership changes: Occurs when bad actors acquire an existing, legitimate carrier’s MC number, either through an actual purchase, coercion, or deception.
Compromised inboxes and email phishing: Occurs when a bad actor gains unauthorized access to a legitimate carrier’s email account, often through phishing links or credential harvesting from fake login pages.
Phone spoofing and fraudulent caller ID: A tactic where fraudsters manipulate the caller ID to impersonate a legitimate carrier or dispatcher.
