In late March 2025, one of Cabrella's clients in the precious metals industry began receiving troubling reports from their customers. Several shipments sent via a major shipping carrier were marked as “delivered,” but the recipients never received their packages.

What initially appeared to be isolated incidents quickly spiraled into a more disturbing pattern. Within days, our claims team identified that these losses were clustering in three specific regions: the Northern California Bay Area, metro Los Angeles, and metro Miami.

‍

A Coordinated Theft Operation

Our investigation—conducted in collaboration with security contacts at the shipping carrier—uncovered a sophisticated theft scheme. The thieves had somehow gained unauthorized access to our client’s carrier shipment data. Armed with this information, they were able to intercept delivery vehicles at or near their intended destinations. By presenting specific package details and, in some cases, fraudulent identification, they convinced drivers to hand over the packages.

Thankfully this scheme was only impacting one of Cabrella's clients in the precious metals space. Cabrella's team was determined to remedy the situation.

‍

Fast Action, Reduced Loss

Thanks to our team's swift detection and response, we were able to take immediate steps to mitigate further losses:

• We advised the client to temporarily halt shipments to the affected regions.

• We helped identify and recall in-transit shipments that could still be intercepted.

• We worked closely with their carrier account representatives to open brand-new shipping accounts and implement visibility restrictions to prevent further data exposure.

These proactive measures significantly limited the scope of the losses. What could have escalated into a loss of several hundred thousand dollars was swiftly brought under control.

‍

The Takeaway

This incident is a reminder that even with established shipping carriers, systems can be exploited if the right safeguards aren’t in place. For businesses shipping high-value goods, monitoring patterns, securing tracking data, and acting quickly when red flags appear are critical steps in reducing risk.

At Cabrella, we’re proud to support our clients with both proactive protection and rapid response when the unexpected occurs.


Click here to learn more about how Cabrella can protect your high-value shipments.

‍