Mikargo247, Verified Carrier launch coverage for strategic cargo theft

The FBI warned in April that cyber-enabled strategic cargo theft is increasing, with criminals using compromised accounts, fictitious companies and double-brokering schemes to divert legitimate freight. The agency recommended that transportation companies independently verify shipment requests and pickups before releasing loads.

MiKargo247’s and Verified Carrier’s new partnership aims to address that risk.

“The strategic theft exclusion has always been a risk management decision, not a permanent limitation,” Michele McGinnis, CEO of MiKargo247, said in the announcement. “If we know a carrier has been vetted, the fraud scenario the typical exclusion was written to address is already off the table.”

MiKargo247 has been building its spot cargo insurance since entering the market in 2022. The company launched as an insurtech (insurance technology) platform offering brokers, 3PLs and motor carriers on-demand, single-trip cargo coverage, initially with limits of up to $1 million per load. The company has since expanded its reach through partnerships with freight technology platforms, including Loadlink Technologies and Trucker Path, giving their users access to coverage for individual loads.

Verified Carrier has taken a different approach to the same broader problem, focusing on establishing that the carrier involved in a freight transaction is legitimate before a shipment is picked up. Its platform is designed for brokers and shippers to verify carriers and drivers, with fraud prevention at the center of the service.

Verified Carrier is focused on reducing the likelihood that a fraudulent carrier obtains a shipment, while MiKargo247 is focused on providing financial protection for the cargo once it is moving. The partnership combines the two companies’ approaches to cargo theft.

When a broker uses Verified Carrier to verify a carrier and purchases MiKargo247 coverage for an eligible load, the strategic theft exclusion can be removed for that shipment. The companies said brokers can complete the process through the Verified Carrier platform. They can quote and bind MiKargo247 coverage and download a certificate without leaving the workflow.

Alex Panfilov, founder and CEO of Verified Carrier, said the company’s goal is to protect the parties involved in a freight transaction by making fraud more difficult throughout the supply chain.

“Verified Carrier exists because the freight industry needs a way to protect carriers, brokers, shippers, and their customers by making fraud structurally impossible at every link in the chain,” Panfilov said in the announcement. “Partnering with MiKargo247 is the natural next step.”

Panfilov said the insurance coverage gives verified carriers another reason to participate in the verification process.

“Verified carriers shouldn’t be penalized by exclusions that exist because of bad actors they’re nothing like,” Panfilov said. “This gives them a tangible benefit for doing things right.”

For MiKargo247, the partnership also represents another step in its effort to make spot cargo insurance easier to access through the systems freight companies already use. For Verified Carrier, it extends carrier verification beyond simply identifying potential fraud and into the insurance consequences of that verification.

The broader idea is that fraud prevention and cargo insurance do not have to operate as separate parts of the freight transaction. If a broker can establish who is actually hauling a load before pickup, an insurer may have more information to determine which risks it is willing to cover.

That is the gap the two companies are attempting to close with the new offering: using carrier verification to make a type of cargo theft that has traditionally been excluded from spot insurance eligible for coverage.

Why this matters: 

Strategic cargo theft has become a growing problem for brokers because criminals can use stolen identities, compromised accounts and fraudulent carrier information to obtain legitimate loads. The new offering connects carrier verification with cargo insurance, potentially giving brokers another layer of protection against losses that traditional spot cargo policies may exclude.