Highway releases Q2 2026 Freight Fraud Index on communication-based attacks

Highway released its Q2 2026 Freight Fraud Index, citing changes in freight fraud patterns and reporting counts of blocked and detected communication-based threats. The report’s findings outline how fraud vectors shifted during the quarter and how controls and regulatory updates related to identity and verification.

Highway said 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. The report also reported rising activity involving Highway’s own brand, tied to phishing and impersonation attempts.

The index tracked 784,201 blocked fraudulent inbound emails during the quarter, a 48.5% increase from Q1 2026 and up 58.3% from a year earlier. It also recorded 109,995 fraudulent and spoofed phone calls, up 53.2% from the prior quarter and 159.3% year over year. Highway said phishing and impersonation attempts linked to its brand increased 282% quarter over quarter, and it added 1,740 new entries to its impersonation watch list.

Highway tied the quarter’s fraud patterns to regulatory and legal shifts involving carrier registration and broker qualification, including FMCSA’s transition to Motus, the Supreme Court’s May 14 ruling in Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II, LLC, and the decertification of 15 ELD providers for failing federal standards. The company said it introduced Ownership Attestation during the quarter, requiring historically associated owners to affirm any material ownership change before it is reflected in traditional data sources. “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 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.”

Provided by Globe Newswire on behalf of Highway 9 Networks. Click to read original content. The original article was written by Decision Insights Editorial.