A string of at least three brazen, large-scale Illinois-related thefts have resulted in hundreds of thousands of dollars in protein powder, coffee products and even lobster to disappear.
Some of the goods have already been accounted for. 25,000 pounds of Seeq protein powder, worth more than $500,000, were recovered from a Bridgeview warehouse on Dec. 23, according to the Cook County sheriff’s office. Roughly 24,000 pounds of stolen coffee products, worth about $100,000, were discovered in a warehouse in Melrose Park earlier this month, according to the sheriff’s office.
Last week, $400,000 worth of lobster bound for Costco locations in Illinois and Minnesota vanished sometime after the shipment was picked up in Taunton, Massachusetts, according to a spokesperson with the Transportation Intermediaries Association.
That shipment, which has not been recovered, was being handled by Rexing Companies, a mid-size freight brokerage, when at least one individual posing as a legitimate carrier took the shipment using “identity-spoofing tactics,” Rexing CEO Dylan Rexing said.
The impersonators used a nearly identical email address that differed from the real carrier’s by a single character, according to Rexing.
“They also spoofed the carrier’s identity on the truck itself, presenting a name consistent with the legitimate carrier at pickup,” Rexing said in a statement. “In addition, the impersonators relied on burner phone numbers during the booking and dispatch process, which went dark once the shipment was released.”
“These layered tactics are increasingly common and are designed to exploit the speed, volume, and trust required to keep freight moving,” Rexing added.
Investigators with the Cook County Organized Retail Crime Unit found the protein powder after a cargo theft investigation, which was launched when a supply chain company notified the unit that a large shipment of SEEQ protein powder went missing, officials said.
The unit is continuing to gather information to build a strong theft case, the sheriff’s office said.
Seeq did not respond immediately to requests for comment.
On Dec. 15, investigators received information that stolen WaWa coffee products were being stored in a Melrose Park warehouse and learned the goods were taken from a facility in Whiteside County, IL in May, the sheriff’s office said.
The two thefts investigated by the unit weren’t related to each other, but the recovered protein powder may be connected to other cases where stolen goods haven’t yet been found, according to the sheriff’s office.
Chris Burroughs, president and CEO of the Transportation Intermediaries Association said that high-value food shipments are a preferred target because it is much harder to trace.
“Electronics have serial numbers, but perishable goods like seafood do not,” Burroughs said. “Once stolen, these products can be quickly reintroduced into the economy.”
The National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) estimates cargo theft costs the U.S. economy up to $35 billion annually.
However, many cargo theft crimes go unreported and the true cost of cargo theft and strategic fraud could exceed $100 billion each year, according to Burroughs.
“These losses ripple through the supply chain — forcing small and mid-sized carriers and brokers to absorb major financial hits, rethink hiring and bonuses, and invest heavily in fraud prevention,” Burroughs said in a written statement. “Ultimately, consumers pay the price through higher costs and empty shelves.”
