Freight Fraud Shifts to Direct Thefts as Identity Attacks Intensify in Q3 2025
Highway's Q3 2025 Freight Fraud Index reveals a significant shift toward direct thefts as the primary fraud vector, with identity-driven attacks continuing to threaten brokers and carriers despite overall theft volumes slightly decreasing.
Highway's Q3 2025 Freight Fraud Index reveals a dramatic shift in criminal tactics within the freight industry, with direct thefts now surpassing compromised emails and ownership-change abuse as the leading fraud vector. The report shows rogue carriers driving a significant share of losses, indicating a concerning evolution in fraudster strategies as the industry approaches peak shipping season.
Despite total theft volumes trending slightly downward from Q2, the frequency and sophistication of fraud attempts continued to climb throughout the third quarter. Highway blocked 605,728 fraudulent email attempts and identified 62,531 fraudulent phone numbers during the period, demonstrating the persistent threat facing freight brokers and carriers. The company recorded 149 unauthorized Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration contact changes, reinforcing the ongoing manipulation of carrier records that enables account takeover schemes.
Through the first three quarters of 2025, Highway has blocked 1,453,129 fraudulent email attempts, already exceeding the total of 914,719 for the full year 2024. Michael Grace, VP of Customer Risk Management at Highway, emphasized that while bad actors are evolving, the most effective defenses remain rooted in fundamental practices. Teams that consistently verify identities, confirm rate confirmations through secure channels, and maintain disciplined verification practices experience dramatically fewer incidents.
Highway's data identifies email takeovers and phishing as the primary entry points for identity misuse. Fraud rings frequently blend into legitimate email threads to intercept rate confirmations, impersonate dispatchers, and redirect payments. Phone-based impersonation is also rising, with spoofed or Voice over Internet Protocol numbers increasingly used to solicit load details or submit fraudulent contact changes.
The global nature of freight fraud operations remains evident, with the top countries associated with Q3 attempts being India, Serbia, and Pakistan. Domestically, California, Texas, and Florida saw the highest concentration of activity, with growing pressure in Indianapolis-area distribution hubs. These patterns align with industry-wide trends reported by FreightWaves, which noted that U.S. cargo theft rose 33% year over year to 525 incidents in Q2, with pilferage accounting for a majority of cases.
As the holiday season approaches, Highway has flagged higher risk for specific commodities including meat and seafood, frozen foods, consumer electronics, and alcoholic or specialty beverages. Multi-stop routes and high-volume consolidation points present particular vulnerabilities during this critical shipping period. The company recommends fundamental controls including verifying carrier identity and contact changes with trusted sources, requiring multi-factor authentication on all email accounts, and delivering rate confirmations only through secure channels. More information about the Freight Fraud Index and Highway's Carrier Identity solutions is available at https://highway.com/.