Thieves are combining account hacking, fake identities and GPS spoofing to rob trucks hauling expensive data center equipment, and investigators worry the methods make such heists far too easy to pull off.
NBC News spoke with several industry leaders, consultants and investigators who advise law enforcement offices probing the largest thefts so far. It reported that since June, thieves have made away with more than $100 million in data center freight.
According to those sources, the scheme begins when criminals break into freight brokers' accounts on shipment-listing websites. They post fake shipments to attract real bids, then send a malicious link to any trucking company that responds. Once a victim clicks, the thieves install software that lets them control the account, and they begin bidding on real shipments.
The next step varies. In some cases a real delivery driver is hired to pick up the cargo without knowing about the scam. In others, fake driver's licenses are used to get accomplices hired. Either way, the goods are eventually handed to a driver working with the thieves, who resells the gear. In one of the largest thefts, tracking coordinates were spoofed so the shipment could not be monitored digitally.
The equipment most often targeted includes servers, fiber-optic cables, computer memory chips, copper wires and bitcoin mining machines, NBC News reported.
Some of the trailers that were hit appear to have carried only data center equipment. Two stolen freights found in Illinois are an example. The Cook County Sheriff's Office estimated they held $300,000 worth of copper wire spools and about $1 million in custom-made data center modular power solutions equipment.
Other trucks carried a mix of goods. In a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department case, data center cooling equipment bound for Deepcool AI was recovered alongside nicotine pouches, televisions, shoes, printers, speakers and skin care cosmetics. Experts worry that this means Americans could be broadly harmed by the thefts, not just the AI industry.
Some of the stolen goods have been recovered. But in two of the largest thefts NBC News identified, none of the equipment was found. In both cases, off-duty police officers who had been hired to escort the shipments were targeted in hit-and-run incidents.
