Live asset tracking is essential tool to fight cargo fraud
A £300,000 order for premium British cheddar looked like a commercial success. Instead, it became one of the UK’s most high-profile cargo fraud cases.
In October 2024, Neal’s Yard Dairy dispatched a 22-tonne shipment of cheddar bound, it believed, for France. The buyer turned out to be a fraudster, and the load was diverted and disappeared. The case illustrates a growing reality for fleet operators: the biggest cargo threat is often no longer theft by force, but theft by deception.
Sharath Muddaiah, Head of Global Customer Success & Business Strategy IoT Solutions, Giesecke+Devrient discusses the role of live asset tracking in helping to combat cargo fraud.
Sophisticated social engineering enables criminals to pose as trusted logistics partners, manipulate business processes and redirect high-value shipments before anyone realises something is wrong. In some cases, the deception extends even further. The BBC recently reported that organised crime groups have gone as far as acquiring legitimate haulage companies to gain access to valuable cargo and steal the loads they were contracted to deliver.
For cargo fleets, tracking goods in transit in real time is now a necessity. It’s not enough to know that a container has been dispatched at a certain time or that it has reached its final destination if the risk of theft lies between the two points. More information is needed to know what happened during the journey: Did the vehicle depart from its planned route? Was the container opened at any point? Were individual packages tampered with?
Sensor and tracking technology has now reached a level of sophistication that makes it possible to answer these questions. Modern IoT tracking devices combine continuous connectivity with an expanding range of integrated sensors, transforming individual shipments into connected assets that continuously report on their location, condition and movement. Rather than simply showing where an asset is, they generate a continuous stream of contextual data that reveals what has happened, what is happening now and, increasingly, what is likely to happen next.
Depending on the use case, they can provide real-time location data, monitor temperature, detect shocks or jolts and identify when a package, trailer or container has been opened. The level of location accuracy now possible means that an alert can be triggered the moment a vehicle strays from its agreed route. In the case of the cheese, this would have raised a red flag as soon as the lorry deviated from its intended route to the Channel.
Beyond GPS: ensuring continuous visibility
GPS remains the foundation of most tracking solutions, but relying on satellite positioning alone is no longer enough. Signals can be weakened or lost in tunnels, warehouses, dense urban areas or remote terrain, and organised criminals increasingly use GPS jamming to disrupt tracking devices. Modern IoT trackers address these gaps by combining GPS with cellular, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth positioning, automatically using the most reliable signal available to maintain visibility throughout the journey. This layered approach makes tracking more resilient and significantly harder to defeat.
The same principle applies to power. While compact trackers attached to individual shipments are designed for shorter journeys, containers, trailers and other long-life transport assets require continuous monitoring over months or even years. Solar-powered IoT devices make this possible, providing long-term visibility without the need for frequent battery replacement.
Keeping an eye on the doors
From a security perspective, continuous tracking is just one of a number of features that are helping to prevent cargo theft. Sensors can now identify whether a package, door, lid or seal has been opened or closed. These work by sensing a physical change, such as the label being peeled or torn, or by detecting the entry of light into the inside of a previously closed item. Sometimes they are also used to detect the separation of a magnetic contact or the breaking of an electrical circuit.
Temperature provides another valuable layer of context. While originally introduced to protect temperature-sensitive goods in the cold chain, temperature sensors can also act as an indicator of potential security incidents. An unexpected temperature change may signal that a trailer or container has been opened, providing an early warning that cargo may have been tampered with or removed. Combined with location data, these sensor insights enable fleet operators to identify suspicious events much earlier and respond before a minor incident becomes a major loss.
Keeping track means faster action
For law enforcement teams to have any chance of apprehending criminals and recovering cargo, swift action is essential as there is only a very short window of opportunity before the cargo is transferred to a new lorry and becomes untraceable. The sooner suspicious activity is detected, the greater the chances of recovering both the cargo and those responsible.
Real-time tracking and intelligent alerts are therefore at the heart of cargo protection. Alerts can immediately notify operators of route deviations, unexpected stops, unauthorised door openings or a shipment leaving a predefined geofenced area. They can be delivered by email, SMS, mobile applications or through an integration with a fleet management or tracking platform.
Once unusual movement patterns or suspected theft are detected, the device should be capable of receiving remote commands to increase its reporting frequency. For example, if the device is normally transmitting location data every 15 minutes, it should be able to switch to reporting every 30 or 60 seconds. This enhanced tracking frequency would significantly improve the chances of recovering the asset, as a thief could otherwise become untraceable during a five-minute reporting gap.
Together, these alerts and sensor insights give operators a more complete picture of what is happening to each load in transit. Goods are no longer protected only by knowing where they are, but by understanding whether something unusual is happening to them.
Cargo security can no longer be reduced to a check at departure and arrival. In an increasingly complex and exposed supply chain, fleets need continuous, real-time visibility. The commercial case is compelling: stronger tracking raises the risk for thieves, improves recovery rates, and limits the cost of stolen or damaged goods. It also sends a clear message to customers and partners: that the business is serious about protecting every load in its care.
