Freight Fraud in Focus: A Fraud Awareness Week Perspective

By FSLA Member Erin O’Leary

As we recognize International Fraud Awareness Week (Nov. 16–22), it’s important to shine a light on a fast-growing threat impacting Florida’s transportation and logistics sector: cargo and freight fraud. A recent report from the American Transportation Research Institute, ATRI, showed cargo theft costs the freight transportation industry $18 million each day and annual theft costs average $520,000 per motor carrier.  These crimes don’t just disrupt deliveries—they fracture supply chains, drive up costs, impact businesses and endanger public safety.

Criminals have become increasingly sophisticated, often infiltrating the global supply chain online rather than through physical hijacking. Last November, in a double brokering scheme, two semi-trucks carrying more than $1 million worth of Santo Tequila—a brand founded by Food Network star Guy Fieri and former Van Halen frontman Sammy Hagar—vanished en route to a warehouse. Just last month, a custom 2025 Range Rover belonging to NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal disappeared after investigators discovered possible hacking within a transport company’s system. According to the Lumpkin County Sheriff’s Office, the vehicle was fraudulently removed from a business facility and never reached its destination in Louisiana.

These stories may sound sensational, but they reflect a dangerous and growing trend: international crime groups are exploiting digital vulnerabilities to steal goods at unprecedented scale.

How Surplus Lines Helps Protect Florida’s Cargo & Supply Chain

Florida is a national logistics hub—and that means exposures here can be complex. According to the Florida Surplus Lines Service Office, in 2024, surplus lines carriers wrote more than 60,000 cargo-related policies in our state—covering aviation, motor, and ocean cargo. These policies represented more than $99 million in premium, underscoring just how essential specialized risk solutions have become for this sector.

Surplus lines carriers play a critical role because they are uniquely positioned to insure unusual, emerging, or hard-to-place risks. As fraud schemes become more technologically sophisticated, these flexible carriers can rapidly adapt underwriting approaches, update policy language, and innovate on coverage to meet evolving threats. That keeps freight moving—and Florida’s economy strong.

Common-Sense Tips to Help Prevent Cargo Fraud

Telematics data and FMCSA inspections are paving a path for intelligence systems to combat freight fraud. Two vendors who support the safe passage of freight on our highways are CargoNet and GenLogs, which utilize a nationwide camera network to track freight and identify shipper lanes of travel.

While no prevention strategy is foolproof, there are practical, everyday steps companies can take to reduce exposure:

Verify the carrier and driver before releasing a shipment. Call using known contact information—not numbers listed on unexpected emails or documents.

• Beware of last-minute changes, including rerouted pickups, swapped drivers, or altered delivery instructions.
• Secure systems and passwords, especially access to load boards, fleet-management portals, and transportation management systems.
• Use multi-factor authentication for all dispatch, routing, and fleet systems.
• Keep documentation centralized and authenticated, including bills of lading, licensing information, and pickup authorization.
• Be cautious with easily resold or untraceable goods, such as food, beverages, and household consumables—these are frequent targets because they disappear quickly in secondary markets.
• Train staff regularly on red flags and new fraud tactics.

As Florida’s logistics network continues to grow, surplus lines coverage will remain a key part of keeping freight secure, insurable, and resilient.

International Fraud Awareness Week is a timely reminder that protecting our supply chain requires vigilance, collaboration, and modern insurance solutions that evolve as fast as the risks do.

Erin O’Leary of Shelly, Middlebrooks & O’Leary in Jacksonville, Fla., is a member of the Florida Surplus Lines Association.

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