Fake Broker Tries to Reroute $273,000 Seafood Load in New Jersey
A scammer posed as a broker and tried to steal a shipment of seafood in New Jersey.
Key facts
A reefer driver got a call from a 'broker' asking him to transfer part of his load to another truck.
The cargo was worth $273,000.
But the caller wasn't a broker at all.
New Jersey, October 3.
The driver is hauling about 13 tons of frozen seafood.
Shrimp, salmon, sea bass.
He gets calls and texts that look like they're from the broker who gave him the load.
They say: head to this address, we'll move part of the load.
The driver goes.
On site, a plain box truck is already waiting, and two guys start hauling pallets out of the reefer.
Mid-transfer, police get a tip about suspicious activity.
The cops beat the box truck out of there.
The whole load was recovered.
They detained an 18-year-old from the Bronx and another minor.
The person who made the calls had nothing to do with the real broker.
Who he is and how he knew about this load, police aren't saying yet.
If a driver says a broker called and asked him to transfer freight into someone else's truck,
I call that broker back myself first. Using the number on the rate con, not the one in the text.
Source: FreightWaves