On December 2nd, and again on December 12th, seafood was stolen from a warehouse in Taunton, Massachusetts, which is about 40 miles south of Boston. The story made national news, both because it involved successive thefts and also because the perpetrators made off with $400,000 in lobster and crabmeat.
While we don’t know much about the December 2nd theft, we know quite a bit about the one that happened on December 12th because Rexing Companies, the freight broker responsible for that load, has been outspoken about the details of the crime.
A Perfect Crime?
Just 10 days apart, two loads of seafood were stolen from the Lineage Logistics Warehouse. The thieves didn’t break in under cover of darkness and make off with the goods; they pulled up during normal business hours and convinced the warehouse to hand over the product as though it was a legitimate pickup.
The crime of ‘fictitious pickup’ is far more prevalent than many people realize, and perishable food products are a prime target. They are hard to track, easy to sell, and no one questions why you’re trying to unload them fast.
According to CargoNet, a cargo theft and recovery network, food and beverage is a top category for theft. Their third-quarter supply chain risk trends analysis found that meat and seafood saw “dramatic increases” of up 189 percent. They also recorded an increase in the number of incidents from 18 events in Q3 of 2024 to 52 events in Q3 of 2025.
What makes this theft extra criminal is that even if perishable stolen goods are recovered, they can’t be sold because of food safety regulations.
Freight broker Rexing Companies hired a logistics company to take the lobster involved in the December 12th theft to Costco locations in Illinois and Minnesota. But they didn’t hire a fake carrier in the sense that it was not a real company; they unknowingly hired a carrier fraudulently posing as a real one.
The fake carrier put a lot of effort into impersonating an actual company – and it worked. They spoofed the email address by just adding a dash, falsely branded the truck to match the real company, and even produced a fake CDL. Rexing described it as “sophisticated.”
Dylan Rexing said his company worried the shipment had been handed off to the wrong person after the suspect allegedly turned off the GPS tracking. At that point, the lobster was gone.
Knowing is Half the Battle
In an article about the thefts, Logistics Viewpoints offered their advice for how to prevent fictitious pickups:
- Always verify carrier information, not by trusting an email, but by checking an objective source. If possible, leverage resources like the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s SAFER system.
- Be on guard in the moment that a load is being picked up. Make absolutely certain that the person you are expecting is the person standing before you.
- Track the cargo, not just the trailer.
In reality, this story serves as an example of cybersecurity or identity risk as much as plain old stealing. This means taking all of the steps usually employed to avoid phishing and hacking scams will help, but it is too late for Rexing Companies and their lobster.
The loss of product is a huge cost, and these are not large businesses. As freight theft becomes more common, insurance costs will go up as well, especially when high-risk categories of product are being moved. Even trust in the overall freight brokerage system may take a hit. When too many parties are involved from beginning to end of the supply chain, it is that much harder to safeguard goods.
These crimes ultimately lead to higher prices and more fragile supply chains for everyone. It may make for clever headlines, but there’s nothing funny about this at all.