Fake Carriers and Freight Fraud in 2026: How to Check a Carrier

Theft without breaking a lock

The fastest growing kind of cargo crime in Europe involves no force at all. A "carrier" accepts your load on a freight exchange, a truck arrives, the driver signs the CMR, and the goods are never seen again. The carrier turns out to be a copy of a real company, or a real company that criminals bought last month.

The numbers from Germany show how quickly this is growing. The insurers' association GDV counted 171 phantom carrier cases in 2025, almost twice as many as in 2024, and the average loss rose from about EUR 130,000 to almost EUR 180,000. Across the region, the security association TAPA EMEA says it recorded more than EUR 1 billion of freight theft in the 18 months to June 2026, although only a small share of reports state a value.

Recent cases show the pattern:

• Saxony, July 2026. An attempt to collect about 25 tonnes of metal worth EUR 260,000, booked through a freight exchange with a real firm's stolen data, was stopped when warehouse staff noticed the announced number plate had been changed twice.
• Cologne, July 2026. Three men were arrested at a warehouse holding about 200 pallets of stationery and cosmetics. A logistics company had hidden a GPS tracker in a load after an earlier one worth EUR 125,000 disappeared.
• Poland, October 2026. Warsaw police detained four men. One worked at a transport company under another person's identity and sent trucks to collect loads that ended up in a warehouse near Kalisz. Losses were about EUR 1 million.
• France, April 2026. A ring impersonated real carriers on freight apps by changing a company name by one or two letters. Losses exceeded EUR 2 million.

How the schemes work

In September 2026 TAPA EMEA published its first guidance on fake carriers. It names five methods, often combined:

• Identity cloning. Fraudsters copy a real carrier's name, address, VAT number and licence from public registers and forge its documents, "altering only the contact details": the e-mail, the phone and the bank account. The e-mail domain differs by one letter or a hyphen, or ends in .com where the real company uses a national domain.
• Business buyout. Criminals buy a legitimate, dormant or struggling transport company with its licences and history, then book high-value loads in bulk. A sudden burst of bookings and recently changed contact or bank details are the signs.
• Account takeover. Logins to a real carrier's freight exchange account are phished or bought. The licence and insurance on the profile are genuine. Only the contact and payment details have been changed.
• Fictitious carriers. Newly registered, no references, insurance from an insurer nobody can reach, a virtual office and a prepaid phone. Used for a few pickups and abandoned.
• Double brokering. The carrier you hired passes the load to someone you never checked. In TAPA's words, "each link in the chain reduces accountability".

Lithuanian claims handlers add a newer twist: fictitious carriers that invest in real trucks, licences and staff to look convincing. Their favourite cargo is alcohol, cosmetics, electronics, non-ferrous metals and vehicle parts.

Requests to change the pickup place, the delivery address, the driver or the bank details shortly before or after booking are, according to TAPA EMEA, among the most reliable signs of fraud.

The checklist before you hand over a load

1. Check the company in official registers, not in the documents it sends you. Use the registers listed below and repeat the check for each new booking.
2. Compare the e-mail domain and phone number with the company's registered details. A look-alike domain is the most frequent red flag. Call back on a number you found yourself.
3. Verify the VAT number in VIES and the transport licence in the national register.
4. Confirm insurance with the insurer directly, including that the premium is paid. Certificates are altered or come from lapsed policies.
5. Question the bank account. An account in another country or another name than the registered company is a reason to stop.
6. Be suspicious of the too-good offer: a free e-mail address, mobile-only contact, an unusually low price, pressure to book at once.
7. Put the driver's name and the plates of truck and trailer on the transport order. At pickup they must match. If they do not, the goods stay in the warehouse until you have verified why.
8. Forbid re-brokering in the contract and name the company that must physically carry the load.
9. Keep valuable loads for partners you know. TAPA suggests at least three months of working history for a subcontractor and six months for high-value goods.
10. Train the people who release the goods and report anything suspicious to the police and your insurer immediately.

It is not only prudence. In 2024 a German appeal court found a forwarder grossly negligent for handing goods worth over EUR 1 million to an unknown carrier. The insurer paid 70% and about EUR 430,000 stayed with the forwarder.

Where to check a carrier: official registers

What the exchanges are doing

Insurers and TAPA EMEA said jointly in February 2026 that freight exchanges have a "key responsibility to ensure no bogus carriers can operate". The large platforms have responded with partner checks, verified-company seals, two-step login and, since July 2026, an exchange open only to carriers holding a TAPA security certificate. German insurers now expect stricter vetting of partners and subcontractors as a condition of cover.

How Start2Load approaches it

Checking companies is part of how the platform works:

• Every company is reviewed before it gets access. Until an administrator has confirmed the company, an account cannot see other members' contact details, post a load or offer a truck.
• Posting needs document verification. A company uploads its documents and is verified before its listings go live.
• Warnings are public. The notice board is open to read, and members use it to warn each other about impersonators.

No platform removes the need for your own checks. Use the list above every time, and treat a verified profile as the start of due diligence, not the end.