Cargo theft numbers drop for the third quarter of 2025

The cargo theft tracking company Verisk CargoNet released its report for the third quarter of 2025.

The cargo theft tracking company Verisk CargoNet released its report for the third quarter of 2025, showing that cargo theft activity in the United States and Canada remained virtually unchanged compared to the previous quarter.

According to CargoNet data, the third quarter recorded 772 cargo theft incidents in the U.S. and Canada, a 1% increase compared to Q3 2024 and a 10% decrease from Q2 2025.

Cargo theft report for Q3 2025

Despite the decline in incidents, CargoNet reported that the financial impact reached record levels. The total value of stolen goods in Q3 2025 amounted to $111.88 million, driven by organized crime groups targeting high-value shipments of enterprise computer hardware, cryptocurrency mining equipment, and copper products.

Additionally, the average value per stolen shipment doubled to $336,787, compared to $168,448 in Q3 2024, a clear indication that cargo thieves are choosing their targets more strategically, according to CargoNet.

The most affected states were California, Texas, and New Jersey, accounting for 58.3% of all reported thefts during the quarter. While California and Texas remained among the top three affected states, they each saw modest year-over-year increases of 11% and 12%, respectively. However, theft incidents in New Jersey surged by 110%.

The most targeted locations were warehouses or distribution centers, as well as trucks transporting goods. The most frequently stolen commodities during Q3 2025 included food, beverages, and household appliances, though there was also a sharp increase in thefts of certain essential goods such as:

Meat and seafood products: up 189%, from 18 incidents in Q3 2024 to 52 in Q3 2025.
Copper: nearly quintupled, from 10 to 47 incidents.

CargoNet also reported a significant rise in attacks targeting enterprise servers, components, and cryptocurrency mining hardware, which often have multimillion-dollar shipment values but are transported as standard dry goods, making them highly vulnerable.

Cargo theft tactics

Regarding theft techniques, CargoNet noted that some criminals have abandoned complex schemes, such as delivery confirmation fraud and authority impersonation, in favor of simpler, more direct thefts of loaded and unattended trailers, particularly in Southern California, the Bay Area, Phoenix, and Lake Tahoe.

Meanwhile, other criminal groups are improving their methods to bypass antifraud measures. These offenders exploit the fact that most security tools focus only on the bidding phase of shipments, using social engineering tactics to obtain information about shipments already assigned, CargoNet stated. With this data, they impersonate legitimate company representatives to divert loads.

CargoNet warns that such social engineering practices may increase in Q4, as criminal groups refine their data-gathering methods and use public information from load boards to identify and target high-value shipments.