The November 2025 “Legal Files” about car transporters getting hacked seems to have been just the tip of the iceberg. We received many responses to the article, but the best came from “Chuck,” who had an interesting experience after selling his GT3-class race car on Bring a Trailer. Chuck sold the car, received the money and agreed to arrange transport for the buyer. He contacted his friend and transport broker Dave Barefoot, who owns and operates DB Auto Relocation Service out of Tucson, AZ. But Barefoot was unable to schedule any of his usual transporters and wound up having to look […]
The November 2025 “Legal Files” about car transporters getting hacked seems to have been just the tip of the iceberg. We received many responses to the article, but the best came from “Chuck,” who had an interesting experience after selling his GT3-class race car on Bring a Trailer.
Chuck sold the car, received the money and agreed to arrange transport for the buyer. He contacted his friend and transport broker Dave Barefoot, who owns and operates DB Auto Relocation Service out of Tucson, AZ. But Barefoot was unable to schedule any of his usual transporters and wound up having to look for someone on the industry load board, which connects shippers with carriers. He located “Dale,” who from his listing looked reliable, and called him to place the cross-country order.
As it turned out, Chuck was scheduled to be on a cruise ship in the Caribbean on the day of the pickup, so he made arrangements with his neighbor to release the car to the transporter. The neighbor was confused when the transporter showed up with a flatbed tow truck to pick up the car. The driver explained that he was just taking the car to a drop-off point for further transport. The neighbor did release the car to him but thankfully took photos of the tow truck just to be safe.
The ransom scam
Chuck soon received a call from the trucker, who claimed that he had hauled the car as far as his Nebraska transport lot — which was well off the route — and that he was unsatisfied with the contract he had made with broker Barefoot. The trucker insisted on getting another $5,000 to haul the car any farther. If Chuck didn’t want to pay, he could just come get the car.
Chuck called Barefoot, who started investigating. It turns out that Dale was actually an 82-year-old farmer who occasionally hauled farm equipment. And of course, the real Dale knew nothing about Chuck’s race car. The crooks had hacked him and modified his load board listing, changing his phone number to theirs.
Barefoot used the neighbor’s photos to contact the towing company that had picked up the car. Fortunately, it wasn’t a participant in the scheme but had merely received an order by the crooks to pick up the car and hold it at their nearby lot for later pickup. Other than having been left sitting outdoors, the car was fine. It was released to Chuck once he paid the $1,200 towing and storage bill — disaster averted.
Barefoot also told “Legal Files” about another such incident he was aware of, a dealer-to-dealer shipment of a Mercedes from New York to Florida. Similarly, the car disappeared and the shipper received a phone call from the scammer demanding payment to get the car back — this time $8,000 paid in Bitcoin.
Of course, paying the ransom money in these cases doesn’t really guarantee getting the car back. Many expensive stolen cars wind up being shipped overseas for resale.
Missing tequila
This transport problem isn’t limited to cars. “60 Minutes” recently did a story on Food Network star Guy Fieri and rocker Sammy Hagar, who co-founded a spirits company named Santo Tequila. Two truckloads of its anejo tequila worth about a million dollars disappeared while being shipped from Texas to Pennsylvania. The logistics company contracted with a shipping company to haul the load. That company then subcontracted the job to two other shippers, a practice commonly called “double brokering.”
You can guess what happened next — the subcontractors were fake companies and the tequila went missing. One truckload was eventually recovered in Los Angeles, but the second has yet to be found. The loss was pretty devastating to Santo Tequila, as it was the entirety of the company’s initial production run.
Investigators say they have tracked such scams to crooks in over 40 countries around the world, including drug cartels. In this case they believe the heist was orchestrated by a criminal gang that operates out of Armenia.
Load boards
So just what are these shipping industry load boards that are at the heart of all this trouble?
Barefoot explains that load boards are subscription-based websites that connect companies shipping goods with companies that transport them. Members can post that they have a load to be hauled, or that they are available to haul. These boards are essential to expeditiously moving freight — including cars — throughout the country. The largest is run by Cox Automotive, a subsidiary of Cox Communications, which also owns Manheim, the auto-auction company. Obviously, this is big business.
Barefoot always tries to work with the same regular group of transport companies, ones he has used many times and knows are reliable. But they aren’t always available to haul a car when and where it needs to go, and his customers often don’t want to wait. In those cases, he has no good alternative but to turn to load boards to find a transport company that can take the job.
Possible remedies
This problem is huge, as stolen loads are an everyday occurrence all across the country. It’s a criminal enterprise that appears to be growing, and law enforcement is overwhelmed and can’t really do an adequate job of trying to find every stolen car or truck load.
To fix this, Barefoot believes that security has to be beefed up. This starts with load boards tightening their requirements for transport companies to be listed, and they have started to do so.
He also faults the Department of Transportation for lax licensing rules. Every transport company has to have a DOT license to operate. An application for a DOT license, with all the documents and certifications that have to be filed and reviewed, is typically a six-month process from start to completion. However, DOT licenses are being offered for sale on the internet, likely illegally, and sometimes for as little as $500.
Protecting yourself
Barefoot has learned that he has to be very careful when using the load boards. He checks out the transporters as best he can, including their files with the Department of Transportation. He always asks about their insurance coverage, and calls their insurance agents to confirm that the coverage they described is actually in force. He asks for the driver’s photo ID and confirms it’s the same driver who shows up to pick up the car. He also avoids using any drivers who insist on communicating solely by text.
As customers, we can protect ourselves by using major carriers who own their own trucks, such as stalwart SCM advertisers Intercity Lines and Reliable Carriers. But you can’t always do that, and sometimes you have to use a broker. Barefoot says the worst thing to do is to just “find someone online.” Websites are simple to create and design to look legitimate. If you don’t have someone you are comfortable with, ask around for a referral. Dealers, auction companies, car clubs and your insurance company may be able to give you good recommendations.
Most important, make sure you have adequate insurance coverage in case the worst thing happens. As explained in previous “Legal Files” columns, many auto-transport companies have limited coverage, often as little as $250,000 per truckload. Transport brokers often carry minimum amounts of insurance as well, typically only a $75,000 bond. This is often not nearly enough, and critically for collectors, federal law generally protects the transporters from any diminished-value liability claims.
John Draneas is an attorney in Oregon and has been SCM’s “Legal Files” columnist since 2003. John can be contacted at john@draneaslaw.com. His comments are general in nature and are not intended to substitute for consultation with an attorney.