The headline figures for cargo theft across the freight industry may not be as comfortable as they first appear. Incidents were down about 25% year on year in Q2 2026, but the financial damage they caused was up. Average losses more than doubled to $304.6 million, or about $564,000 per theft. Industry estimates also suggest that only 10% of cargo theft incidents are reported.
As the freight industry hits its peak shipping season, the growing disparity between the number of reported incidents and their financial impact is bringing to light another form of freight crime. “Criminals are increasingly using deception and identity theft to access high-value loads rather than simply trying to gain physical access to trailers.
In the lead-up to this year’s F3: Future of Freight Festival, E3 Group co-founder and CEO Aqil Naeem talked about these changes and what they mean for brokers and shippers preparing for the fourth quarter.
“The apparent reduction in theft activity does not necessarily mean that the cargo security has been corrected,” Naeem said. But he sees signs that fraudsters are becoming choosier. Fictitious pickups have held fairly steady, while total theft events have gone down. There are fewer thieves but the active ones are targeting hauls that are likely to provide bigger returns.
That difference is key for companies preparing for the November and December rush. Less incidents doesn’t necessarily mean less exposure.
Impersonation: An Alternative to Traditional Cargo Theft Tactics
Freight fraud has evolved over the years, as it’s easier than ever to get hold of impersonation tools to pose as a legitimate carrier. Criminals can buy fake license plates and carrier decals, cover up a truck’s original markings with magnetic signage, steal email credentials on the dark web or use artificial intelligence to create convincing images of trucks and commercial driver’s licenses.
“These resources allow for a fake pickup to be coordinated remotely without the offender ever having to set foot in a shipper’s facility,” said Naeem. Criminal groups also leverage phishing campaigns and remote-access malware to seize control of business email accounts and carrier profiles to make fraudulent instructions appear to come from legitimate sources.
The result is a more sophisticated type of organized crime. Fraudsters do not need to break into a trailer. They can take advantage of vulnerabilities while they are assigning and releasing freight. Some groups hijack email and compliance accounts of existing carriers, while others are said to outright buy legitimate carrier companies to enhance the credibility of their operations.
“The key vulnerability in the industry has thus shifted,” says Naeem. The question is no longer whether a load or vehicle is secured properly. It’s also about ensuring that the person who comes to pick up the shipment is the person who’s authorized to do so.
While traditional vetting procedures will check the carrier’s credentials, they do not independently verify the identity of the person picking up the freight. Those checks can give a false sense of security where a criminal has hijacked a legitimate carrier account.
How E3 Group Verifies the Driver Behind the Shipment
E3 Group developed its E3 Driver Authentication platform to address this gap by verifying drivers before freight is released.
The process begins when a driver receives a text message containing a verification link after being assigned to a load. There is no requirement to download an application. The driver then submits live images of their commercial driver’s license (CDL), the side of the truck, the cab card and their own face.
The platform assesses those inputs against more than 50 verification signals within seconds. It produces a clear pass-or-fail decision, supported by recorded evidence, while leaving the final release decision in the hands of the broker.
The system is designed to identify several methods used in fictitious pickups, including magnetic carrier decals placed over a truck’s original markings, manipulated CDL images, AI-generated truck photographs and driver substitutions occurring between authentication and arrival at the pickup location.
Its checks extend beyond a simple visual inspection. The platform compares the barcode on the back of a CDL with the information presented on the front. It also controls the phone camera to prevent users from submitting recycled photographs. Naeem cited an instance in which the system flagged a CDL image that had been photographed from a tablet screen.
Vehicle identity is assessed through comparisons of the vehicle identification number (VIN) shown on the cab card, the sticker on the door jamb and the broker’s own records. Location information drawn from cell towers, GPS and IP addresses provides another layer of verification.
The timing of these checks is equally important. Rather than waiting until a truck reaches the loading dock, E3 aims to identify discrepancies hours before the scheduled pickup. Brokers and shippers can then arrange an alternative carrier before the shipment is exposed to a potential theft.
AI-Enabled Fraud Fighting with Multiple Layers of Verification
The platform’s approach also helps address emerging tactics such as AI-generated voice cloning and motor carrier number spoofing, said Caleb Sirak, co-founder and president of the E3 Group.
While the technology can distinguish between human speech and generated audio, Sirak said the company does not rely on telephone verification as its primary method of authentication. A phone conversation alone is not enough to prove the caller is the legitimate driver assigned to the shipment.
Instead E3 combines live photographic evidence, document validation, facial matches and vehicle identification checks. A cloned voice can’t do the job on its own of providing a live image of a real CDL with a barcode that matches the front of the document, a face that matches that license and a truck with a VIN that matches up across three different sources, Sirak said.
Carrier credentials are not different. Having a valid motor carrier number is only part of the verification process and does not mean the person requesting the freight is authorized to collect the freight.
Also triggers are geographic inconsistencies. For instance, if a verification link is for a pickup in Texas and is opened in Kentucky, the system immediately catches the discrepancy. This mismatch can detect an attempt to authenticate a driver from a location that does not correspond to the planned pickup.
Why Carrier Checks Alone Can Leave Freight at Risk
“One of the most common mistakes in freight vetting,” Sirak says, “is confusing carrier verification with driver verification.
A broker can check a motor carrier’s identification number, operating authority and insurance, and all the records may appear legitimate. However, if the carrier’s account has been taken over by criminals, the load may still be being arranged or collected by someone unauthorized.
Identity checks using telephone calls or photographs sent by text or email are often another weak point. These methods may not be sufficient in the face of forged credentials and may expose one to the law without offering any real extra protection.
According to Naeem, counterfeit CDLs with working barcodes can be purchased for around $25, meaning that fake documents can pass a normal visual inspection. Asking for identification over a phone call or email is no substitute for a structured authentication process.
The distinction is clear to brokers: verifying a carrier exists is not the same as verifying who is standing next to the truck and asking to pick up the freight.
Preparing for the November and December Freight Rush
Peak season brings together several conditions that increase the appeal of freight fraud: higher shipping volumes, valuable cargo and teams operating under staffing pressure. Naeem identified November and December as the highest-risk months of the year, warning that busy operations can make it easier for an impostor to pass through routine checks.
He recommends two practical measures that companies can introduce even without dedicated fraud-prevention technology.
The first is to withhold the pickup number until the identity of the arriving driver has been confirmed. For high-value or theft-prone shipments, Naeem described a FaceTime call with the driver standing beside the actual truck as the most reliable manual workaround E3 has encountered in the field.
The second is to strengthen how carrier credentials are sourced and verified. Brokers should obtain insurance and operating-authority information directly from the organizations that issue the records rather than relying exclusively on documents uploaded by a carrier. When a callback is necessary, they should use telephone numbers already held on file, not contact details supplied in a potentially compromised email signature.
These procedures also need to be formalized. Naeem recommended including identity verification in a standing standard operating procedure and defining in advance who is authorized to approve last-minute changes to pickup or delivery instructions.
E3’s platform is intended to automate the initial verification step across every load, reducing the manual burden on operations teams. According to Naeem, the system integrates with existing transportation management systems and can be operational within a day.
High-Value Shipments Face Increasingly Selective Attacks
As fraudsters concentrate on more profitable targets, shippers handling electronics, copper and other high-value goods face a different risk calculation. Criminals weigh the potential value of a shipment against the time and effort required to steal it.
Naeem said stronger verification can change that calculation by making a shipper’s freight a less attractive target. He also pointed to customers that have experienced lower driver rejection rates after implementing E3’s authentication process.
One example involved a high-value automotive shipper that had lost several loads to fraud before introducing E3 Shield. Following implementation, the platform identified repeated attempts originating from the same region. The incidents involved altered CDLs with falsified expiration dates and misrepresented domicile status.
In one case, a fraudster submitted a manipulated image of the front of a CDL alongside the genuine reverse side of another license, apparently attempting to defeat the verification process.
Naeem said E3 blocked a series of these attempts over the course of a month. After that period, the company stopped observing further attempts to collect its customer’s freight.
At the company-wide level, Naeem reported that E3 had not recorded a single theft involving an E3-verified load. He added that the company supports this claim with a full fee-refund guarantee.
The experience illustrates the role identity controls can play in discouraging repeat targeting. When fraudulent pickups are repeatedly detected before cargo is released, the effort and risk involved in targeting that shipper increase.
Freight Security Is Moving Toward Continuous Identity Verification
The industry’s response to cargo crime is increasingly moving beyond document checks and informal telephone confirmations. E3 Group expects stronger identity controls to become part of the shipment process throughout its lifecycle, rather than being limited to the initial freight tender.
Naeem outlined three developments he expects to see adopted more widely: driver authentication at every handoff instead of only at the first collection point; unambiguous pass-or-fail results instead of unclear risk scores; and detailed audit trails that legal teams can rely on, replacing informal verification calls and loosely documented decisions.
The company says the effectiveness of its system also improves as its verification experience expands. According to Naeem, E3 Driver Authentication has completed more than 700,000 driver authentications, with each additional check contributing to the platform’s ability to identify suspicious activity.
Individual shippers cannot eliminate freight crime across the entire market, but they can make their own loads more difficult to target. By checking the driver’s identity before pickup, recording the evidence and applying consistent controls across shipments, brokers can reduce the opportunities available to criminals exploiting gaps between carrier credentials and driver identity.
The objective, Naeem emphasized, is to stop fictitious pickups before a truck reaches the loading dock and ensure every load receives the same verification process, with documented proof of who collected the freight. In an environment where theft is becoming more selective and individual incidents more costly, that added friction may be enough to persuade criminals to move on to a less protected shipment.
