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of cargo theft in North America in 2022, with 1,059 report- the signals of GPS trackers and make it more dif? cult to re- ed cases, compared to 316 cases of burglary and theft (more cover stolen goods. Usually, the driver is not involved but the opportunity-driven), 139 cases of ? ctitious pick-up (where a thieves conduct countersurveillance and put GPS trackers on criminal uses false ID or documentation to impersonate a car- to the units. Once the driver goes to sleep, they remove the rier), and 92 cases of broken seal, according to CargoNet. cargo from the trailer. Thieves have also been known to use

AirTags (small tracking devices), staying close enough to the driver and cell reception to get a signal.

Straight Cargo Theft

Products are stolen from their storage site, typically truck

Cyber Crime stops, warehouses or distribution centers, train stops, and load- ing and unloading docks. Sometimes thieves target commodi- Thieves exploit cyber weaknesses to gain access to comput- ties by staying near a warehouse and waiting for the cargo to be er systems and goods, using tactics such as phishing emails, loaded on to the trailer. They follow the trailer until the driver when they impersonate a trusted supplier or entity. Criminals makes a stop to rest or spend the night. The thieves then break also use emails to install malicious programs that grant hack- the seal and take the entire cargo or a few targeted items. ers access to valuable data from a company’s system. The information can then be used to forge invoices and delivery

Strategic or Deceptive Cargo Theft documentation or to divert shipments.

Criminals disguise themselves as legitimate drivers, em- It is essential for any company at risk of cargo theft to iden- ployees or business representatives and deceive truck ship- tify and manage security threats using internal processes and pers, brokers, and carriers. This type of theft can include iden- external advice such as partnering with their insurer to imple- tity theft and ? ctitious pick-ups. ment risk mitigation practices.

In recent months, Allianz has seen claims where the motor carrier is holding the cargo hostage and will not release the cargo until they are paid for the transit. They proceed to open

The Author the seal, transload and store the cargo in a warehouse until

Krampiz payment has been received.

Florian Krampiz is Director of Marine Claims,

North America for Allianz Commercial. Based

Technology-Based Cargo Theft in Chicago, Florian was previously Head of

Criminals sometimes use devices that detect hidden GPS

Allianz’s Marine Complex Claims in Hamburg.

trackers placed in or on the cargo. These devices interfere with

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