The final quarter of the year has historically been the highest-risk period for fraud in transportation and logistics. Fraudsters capitalize on reduced holiday staffing, increased shipping volume, and tighter year-end cycles. Unfortunately, 2025 has proven to be one of the most challenging years yet, with a substantial rise in identity theft, false documents, and fraudulent carrier activity.
Institutions across the financial and factoring sectors are reporting higher incidents of:
- Counterfeit rate confirmations
- Fraudulent bills of lading
- Manipulated proof-of-delivery documents
- Spoofed carrier identities
- Fake or unverifiable Invoices
- Double brokering schemes
- Ghost carriers using stolen DOT or MC numbers
The sophistication of these schemes continues to evolve. Fraudsters are leveraging AI-generated documents, impersonation tools, and digital manipulation to create materials that can bypass a quick visual review. In environments where internal teams are overloaded or short-staffed—especially in December—these fraudulent documents are more likely to slip through.
Regulators and industry associations are urging lenders and factors to adopt multi-layer verification protocols heading into 2026. This includes:
- Enhanced document review standards
- Additional carrier identity authentication
- Internal fraud-pattern tracking
- Secondary insurance validation
- Consistent audit trails for all verifications
But implementing these enhancements requires bandwidth—something many institutions lack during peak periods.
This dynamic is driving increased adoption of specialized outsourcing to ensure document validation is consistent, accurate, and resilient against fraud attempts.
24×7 Synergy supports fraud mitigation through:
- Comprehensive document validation
- Insurance authenticity checks
- Verification of carrier credentials
- Real-time escalation of discrepancies
- Rigorous adherence to SOPs and compliance controls
- 24/7 operational coverage
- Audit-ready accuracy and documentation
Fraud during the holidays is not a seasonal nuisance—it’s a structural, year-round threat that peaks in December and continues into Q1. Institutions that fortify their validation workflows now will significantly reduce risk exposure and improve portfolio performance going into 2026.