A shipment of $400,000 worth of lobsters that was stolen this week after it was picked up from an unnamed facility in Taunton highlights a growing and sophisticated theft problem shipping companies face.
Dylan Rexing — the CEO of Indiana-based Rexing Companies, who managed the lobster shipment that was supposed to go to Costco stores in Minnesota and Illinois — told the Associated Press Tuesday that hijackers impersonated a legitimate carrier, a tactic frequently used to steal high-value cargo across the United States.
The tactic is part of a widespread problem facing the cargo transportation industry, where sophisticated overseas crime rings commit identity fraud to steal perishable cargo under the radar. But how does this work, and what happens to the cargo after it’s stolen?
Identity fraud
Within the truck cargo transportation industry, there are two main types of theft, namely straight theft and strategic theft, according to Scott Cornell, vice president of transportation risk and strategy at LogistIQ Insurance Solutions in California…