The Pulse
Cargo Thieves Spoof GPS in More Than $100M of Data-Center Freight
Investigators say thieves have stolen more than $100 million in data-center freight since June, using account takeovers, fake driver identities and spoofed GPS coordinates. Two missing shipments worth an estimated $23 million show how digit
AI.info Team · Written with AI · fact-checked ·
A $10 million load disappeared despite tracking
A California-to-Texas shipment of server-rack components, valued at about $10 million, vanished after an SUV struck the vehicle escorting it. The cargo was being tracked by an application, but its coordinates had apparently been spoofed, according to reporting cited by Ars Technica on October 26. The theft illustrates how digital tracking can fail when criminals manipulate the information that a monitoring system receives.
Investigators and industry figures told NBC News that thieves have stolen more than $100 million in data-center freight since June. The loads include equipment for the computing infrastructure behind AI services, as well as other high-value technology. The account of the thefts links online fraud, compromised business accounts and physical interception on the road.
Fake freight listings open the door
The scheme can begin with a fake shipment posted to a freight-listing website. Thieves use the listing to attract bids from legitimate trucking companies, then send a malicious link to companies that respond. If a worker clicks it, the attackers can install software that gives them control of the company’s account and lets them bid on real shipments.
From there, the cargo may be picked up by a legitimate driver who does not know about the fraud, or by an accomplice hired with a fake driver’s license. The goods are later transferred to another driver working with the thieves, who can move them for resale. Ars Technica also reports that criminals are using AI to create fake licenses, making identity checks part of the security problem.
The targeted freight includes servers, fiber-optic cables, computer memory chips, copper wire and bitcoin-mining machines. Some of those goods are difficult to sell openly, investigators said; stolen equipment may instead be broken into parts and moved through gray markets. In some cases, they said, an overseas buyer is lined up before the theft.
Two escort collisions left loads missing
The California-to-Texas shipment was one of two multimillion-dollar loads in which escorts were forced off the route after vehicle collisions. In the other case, a truck carrying several hundred pounds of computer-server equipment valued at $13 million was headed to Fayetteville, Georgia. An unmarked sedan struck the escort car, forcing two off-duty officers to stop while the trailer continued on.
Gerardo Pachuca, a private investigator and former Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy investigating cargo theft, told NBC News, “the accident was not an accident. The bad guys wanted that load, so they intentionally took out the escorts.” Neither load was recovered, Ars Technica reported. The incidents show that a shipment’s digital safeguards and its physical escort can be targeted as parts of the same operation.
Driver vetting is a weak link
Since 2025, nearly two dozen cargo-theft incidents involving data-center freight have occurred in states including California, Texas and Utah, according to the reporting. Verisk CargoNet operations head Keith Lewis described the appeal for criminals: “it’s so much easier to steal this than to rob a bank.” The value and portability of the equipment make verified carriers and drivers essential to preventing a fraudulent booking from becoming a missing load.
Scott Cornell, chair of the Transported Asset Protection Association Americas, said attackers can exploit weak checks on drivers and freight companies. “The only way this works is if the drivers are not properly vetted,” he told NBC News. His prescription points to a basic control at the center of a complex theft: confirm who is collecting a shipment before handing over the cargo.