DALLAS, July 28, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Freight fraud is shifting away from fabricated identities and toward compromised trust, according to the Q2 2026 Freight Fraud Index Report released today by Highway, the leading provider of Carrier Identity® solutions. Communication based attacks, including compromised inboxes, spoofed emails, account takeovers and impersonation calls, accounted for 50% of all classified fraud vectors in the second quarter, up from 42.7% in the first quarter.

Highway blocked 784,201 fraudulent inbound emails during the quarter, a 48.5% increase from Q1 2026 and up 58.3% from a year earlier. The network intercepted 109,995 fraudulent and spoofed phone calls, up 53.2% from the prior quarter and 159.3% year over year. Fraudsters also began targeting Highway's own brand directly, with phishing and impersonation attempts linked to the company jumping 282% quarter over quarter and 1,740 new entries added to Highway's impersonation watch list. The pattern lines up with a broader warning from the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center, which flagged a surge in cyber-enabled cargo theft this year and, according to Transport Topics, tied part of the activity to a single threat group running phishing campaigns across dozens of domains.

“Almost every successful theft starts with a bad actor exploiting your trust,” said Demi Ramon, vice president of risk at Highway. “They're counting on a compromised contact method to appear legitimate and hoping your process won't detect the deception before the freight is gone.”

The quarter's fraud patterns coincided with three regulatory shifts that raised the bar for legitimate operators. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's (FMCSA) transition to Motus tightened identity verification at carrier registration, while the Supreme Court's unanimous May 14 ruling in Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II, LLC found that negligent-hiring claims against brokers are not preempted by federal law, increasing scrutiny on how brokers qualify carriers before tendering freight. The FMCSA also decertified 15 ELD providers this quarter for failing federal standards. Each change raises the standard for legitimate operators, but Highway's data shows stronger controls do not eliminate fraud. They relocate it.

“The Montgomery ruling didn't just raise the bar for negligence claims; it raised the bar for what verification actually means,” said Michael Caney, chief commercial officer at Highway. “There is no finish line. Brokers need to treat identity and security of cargo as ongoing and contextual. It’s not ‘Where is my freight?’, it’s who has it.”

As identity creation grew harder, fraud shifted toward trust that already existed. Ownership change fraud accounted for 25.6% of reported thefts in Q2, up from 23.0% in Q1, even as ownership discrepancy alerts fell 40.9% over the same period. The National Insurance Crime Bureau has flagged the same shift nationally, reporting that criminals are exploiting cargo delivery through identity theft, fictitious pickups and cyber-enabled logistics manipulation rather than traditional theft. In response, Highway introduced Ownership Attestation during the quarter, requiring historically associated owners to affirm any material ownership change before it is reflected in traditional data sources.

The Q2 2026 Freight Fraud Index Report is available for download at highway.com/reports/q2-2026-freight-fraud-index.

About Highway

Highway is the leading technology provider specializing in Carrier Identity® solutions for freight brokers, empowering them to reduce fraud and streamline the digital booking process. By automating compliance, Highway gives brokers the ability to enforce an all-new standard, enabling them to efficiently identify the right carrier for every load and build their network with speed and security. With a commitment to transparency, trust, and truth, Highway equips brokers with the data necessary to focus on delivering exceptional service while driving business growth without fear of fraud. For more information, visit highway.com.

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Highway Q2 2026 Freight Fruad Index

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Q2 2026 Freight Fraud Index: Half of All Incidents Now Tied to Communication Based Attacks

Source: Highway