Freight fraud reached an all-time high in Q1 2026, according to the Q1 2026 Freight Fraud Index Report released by Highway.
Carriers holding legitimate Motor Carrier numbers and previously clean operating histories were responsible for roughly 50% of all theft incidents, a pattern that exposes the limits of traditional vetting.
“Fraud has moved from rules to process,” says Michael Grace, VP, customer risk management at Highway. “Just because you’ve run a thousand loads with a carrier doesn’t mean the next one is safe. There’s a level of risk that’s happening anytime you hire someone.”
Key takeaways:
· The data reveals four dominant fraud vectors in Q1: direct theft by rogue carriers, compromised inboxes, change of-ownership schemes, and an accelerating wave of social engineering attacks.
· The quarter was reshaped by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) Interim Final Rule on non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses, which took effect March 16. Carriers facing license expiration or heightened enforcement scrutiny began treating loads as exit opportunities, contributing to multi-load theft runs by operators with established broker relationships and verified equipment histories.
· Change-of-ownership fraud surged 169.6%, with 399 ownership changes flagged across carrier profiles. The network intercepted 71,801 spoofed phone calls and recorded 2,256 reported instances of identity theft, up 89.6% year over year.
· Email-based fraud accounted for roughly 26% of all incidents; change-of-ownership activity, approximately 20%.
· Social engineering emerged as the fastest-growing threat vector in Q1. Bad actors impersonated Highway representatives by phone to request verification codes, targeted after-hours teams to extract load details, and spoofed reroute communications after legitimate pickups.
· Top states for theft activity in Q1 entail California, New Jersey, Indiana, Maryland, Illinois, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania.
· Most frequently targeted commodities include meat and seafood, semi-precious metals, and electronics.
· International access attempts into broker networks reached 551, originating most frequently from India, Pakistan, and Serbia.
· As produce season drives freight volumes higher through Q2, theft activity remains concentrated in the same corridors and commodity types that will see increased movement.
“In today’s freight environment, trust can be transferred with a signature and an MC number,” says Michael Caney, chief commercial officer at Highway. “Brokers can’t just verify companies anymore. They have to verify who is actually operating behind the authority.”
