🎣 Freight Fraud Isn’t Slowing Down

Today, we're breaking down Highway's latest Freight Fraud Index, revealing the state of freight fraud in Q1 2025.

The Freight Fraud Landscape in Q1 2025

According to the index, fraudsters are deploying more sophisticated tactics than ever before. The top three fraud vectors in Q1 were:

1. Stolen Credentials
   Criminals are posing as legitimate carriers using stolen MC numbers and carrier identities. These stolen credentials give them just enough legitimacy to get past surface-level vetting.
2. Compromised Email Accounts
   Fraudsters are intercepting rate confirmations and tenders by gaining access to real carrier inboxes. Once inside, they can respond as the legitimate carrier, gain trust, and secure the load.
3. Spoofed Phone Numbers
   Scammers are increasingly using caller ID spoofing to impersonate legitimate dispatchers, sales reps, or even brokers. Gaining trust in seconds by sounding familiar and appearing “local.” It's one of the most effective tools in the fraud playbook today.

We recently interviewed the team at WireBee, who is integrated with Highway to help brokers stop spoofed calls before they start.

WireBee Partners With Highway to Enhance Fraud Prevention and Streamline Call Routing for Freight Brokers

WireBee’s integration with Highway will help users bolster security in the onboarding process without creating friction.

The partnership enables brokers to screen, route, or block calls automatically based on compliance data, before a human even picks up the phone.

“We’re saving time, boosting productivity, and only working with reliable carriers thanks to smarter call screening,” said Johnny Bradley, agency owner at SPI-Palm Springs.

You could watch our interview by clicking the YouTube link below:

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A Surge in Identity-Based Attacks

The Freight Fraud Index emphasizes that today’s scams are identity-driven.

Whether it’s faking an MC number, mimicking a known dispatcher’s email, or spoofing a phone number, the goal is always the same: impersonate a trusted party just long enough to disappear with the freight.

This isn’t your standard “double brokering” anymore. It’s identity theft with a logistics twist.

Highway's systems blocked over 400,000 fraud attempts in Q1 2025 alone.

That number should scare anyone in this business.

FMCSA Contact Manipulation Still a Major Issue

The report also confirms that FMCSA contact manipulation remains widespread. Fraudsters continue to:

• Buy or take over legitimate MCs (also known as “sold MCs”)
• Change FMCSA-listed phone numbers and email addresses
• Redirect all communication to their spoofed systems

This gives bad actors a high level of perceived credibility, especially if a broker is relying on outdated or unauthenticated FMCSA data.

Final Thoughts

The fraud landscape isn’t just changing, it’s becoming the new normal.

Whether you’re a one-man shop or a national brokerage, it's time to start treating fraud prevention as a core part of your operation.

We recommend downloading Highway’s full Q1 2025 Freight Fraud Index. It goes deeper than we could in this newsletter.

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🎣 THE FREIGHT CAVIAR CORNER

Last month, I visited CABXPO to meet the entrepreneurs driving one of the fastest-growing business communities in America. From family-run logistics companies to startups, here’s what the Central Asian American business boom looks like—up close. Click here to watch.

FREIGHT HUMOR