Highway thieves spoof GPS to steal data center cargo

Highway thieves are using digital tactics to steal trucks hauling expensive data center equipment. Since June they have taken more than $100 million in data center freight, NBC News reported.

How the thefts work

Thieves hack freight brokers' accounts on shipment-listing sites, post fake loads to lure real bids, then send a malicious link to responding trucking companies. Once a victim clicks, the thieves install software, seize the account and bid on real shipments. Sometimes a real driver is hired without knowing about the scam; other times fake licenses get accomplices hired. The goods pass to a driver working with the thieves, who resell the gear, and in one of the largest thefts tracking coordinates were spoofed to defeat monitoring. Targets include servers, fiber-optic cables, memory chips, copper wire and bitcoin mining machines. Two stolen freights found in Illinois held about $300,000 in copper wire spools and $1 million in custom-made data center modular power equipment, the Cook County Sheriff's Office said. A Los Angeles County case recovered cooling equipment bound for Deepcool AI among other goods. Experts worry Americans broadly, not just the AI industry, will be hurt.

Escorts attacked, tracking spoofed

In two of the largest thefts no equipment was recovered, and off-duty cops hired as escorts were targeted in hit-and-runs. A trailer carrying several hundred pounds of server equipment worth $13 million was bound for Fayetteville, Georgia, home to one of the largest data center developments in the country. Two escorts lost sight of it after an unmarked sedan struck their car. Gerardo Pachuca, a private investigator and former LASD cop, said the crash was no accident and the thieves wanted the load. A second shipment from California to Texas, carrying server rack components worth about $10 million, sped off after an SUV hit the escorts' vehicle; its tracking coordinates had apparently been spoofed. Sgt. David Pantoja said that is how most of it is done now, a shift from the opportunistic thefts of the past. Since 2025 there have been nearly two dozen incidents in California, Texas and Utah, and the problem is expected to grow as AI firms invest billions. Keith Lewis of Verisk CargoNet compared the loads to pure gold bars and said they are easier to steal than robbing a bank. Parts are sold on gray markets, often to an overseas buyer lined up in advance, including in China.

Security and policy response

Freight firms cannot lean too heavily on AI; vetting drivers and knowing clients remains the core defense. Scott Cornell of TAPA Americas said the rings are playing chess in the supply chain, but carriers can checkmate them by slowing down for background checks. The scheme only works if drivers are not vetted. Lawmakers are weighing a stronger federal response, states have formed task forces, and companies keep hiring escorts. Mike Duffy of Solutions Group International said his firm escorts hundreds of loads per month, much of it for data centers.

Sources: Ars Technica · Nbc News