Global cargo insurers are confronting a rapidly evolving risk environment as theft and freight fraud reshape loss patterns across international supply chains, prompting renewed concern over underwriting discipline and risk controls.
Industry bodies including the International Union of Marine Insurance (IUMI) and the Transported Asset Protection Association (TAPA) EMEA warn that cargo crime is no longer dominated by physical theft alone. Instead, increasingly sophisticated fraud—often enabled by digital platforms and weak identity verification—is emerging as a major driver of claims severity and frequency.
According to data compiled by TAPA’s intelligence system, almost 160,000 cargo-related crime incidents were recorded across 129 countries between 2022 and 2024. Estimated losses run into the billions of euros, reinforcing cargo’s status as one of the most exposed classes within marine insurance. While Europe and the Americas continue to report high incident volumes, Latin America and parts of Africa are experiencing particularly violent and well-organised attacks, adding to insurers’ concerns over loss volatility.
Indicative Cargo Crime Overview (2022–2024)
| Metric | Recorded Data |
|---|---|
| Countries affected | 129 |
| Reported incidents | ~160,000 |
| Estimated losses | Billions of euros |
| High-risk regions | Latin America, parts of Africa |
| Key loss drivers | Theft, fraud, identity deception |
Beyond traditional threats such as hijackings, warehouse break-ins and pilferage, insurers are now grappling with fraud schemes that exploit digital freight exchanges and online booking systems. Criminal groups increasingly combine physical theft with identity manipulation, using cloned company profiles, shell carriers and forged documentation to infiltrate legitimate supply chains.
Thorsten Neumann, president and chief executive of TAPA EMEA, notes that fake insurance certificates, forged email domains and look-alike websites have become routine tools for organised crime. He warns that advances in artificial intelligence are likely to accelerate these tactics, enabling criminals to scale operations more quickly and convincingly, thereby increasing aggregate losses.
For underwriters, the implications extend beyond claims costs. Fraudulent carriers undermine due diligence, complicate subrogation and increase dispute risk, particularly where losses involve multiple intermediaries or cross-border jurisdictions. Digital freight platforms, while improving efficiency, have become a pressure point where inadequate vetting can expose insurers to avoidable losses.
In response, IUMI and TAPA EMEA are urging insurers, brokers and logistics stakeholders to reassess contractual controls and security expectations. Their joint guidance emphasises tighter carrier and driver vetting, enhanced verification of credentials and insurance documents, and closer scrutiny of abnormal booking or routing behaviour. Secure facilities, disciplined route planning and adherence to recognised security standards are also highlighted as essential defences.
Lars Lange, secretary general of IUMI, stresses that stronger identity verification on freight platforms—including multifactor authentication and fraud detection—will be critical to curbing losses that are increasingly difficult to recover.
As cargo insurers tighten underwriting in high-risk corridors and re-examine accumulation exposures around logistics hubs and last-mile delivery, it is clear that cargo risk is no longer defined solely by geography. Increasingly, it hinges on the integrity of digital identities and the ability of insurers to distinguish legitimate operators from sophisticated impostors.