Imagine the buffet.<\/p>\n
Forty-thousand oysters, lobster worth $400,000 and a cache of crabmeat all were stolen in separate incidents within weeks of each other in New England.<\/p>\n
The first seafood vanished on Nov. 22 in Falmouth, Maine, where authorities suspect someone stole 14 cages full of oysters from an aquaculture site in Casco Bay. Many of the oysters were full-grown and ready for sale, and together with the cages were worth $20,000, according to the Maine Marine Patrol.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a devastating situation for a small businessman,\u201d said Marine Patrol Sgt. Matthew Sinclair.<\/p>\n
The other two thefts happened in Taunton, Massachusetts, about 160 miles (255 kilometers) away. First, a load of crab disappeared after leaving the Lineage Logistics warehouse on Dec. 2. Then, on Dec. 12, lobster meat destined for Costco stores in Illinois and Minnesota was stolen by a fraudulent trucking company, according to the broker who arranged the pickup.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe carrier we hired impersonated a real carrier,\u201d Dylan Rexing, CEO of Rexing Companies, said Tuesday. \u201cThey had a spoofed email address. They changed the name on the side of the truck. The made a fake certified driver\u2019s license. It\u2019s a very sophisticated crime.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lineage Logistics, Costco and Taunton Police did not respond to requests for comment, but Rexing said police told him about the crab theft from the same warehouse.<\/p>\n
That kind of cargo theft has been a problem for over a decade, he said, but has gotten worse in recent years.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt happens every day, multiple times a day,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Freight theft generally falls into two categories, said Chris Burroughs, president and CEO of Transportation Intermediaries Association, a trade organization for the freight brokerage industry. The lobster heist fits in the first type, which involves someone impersonating a legitimate trucking company. The second type, known as strategic theft, often involves using phishing emails to gain access to computer systems and get paid without actually stealing the product.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a massive growing problem that needs to get addressed,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Given its short shelf life, the stolen lobster likely ended up restaurants, both said. And while he\u2019s seen plenty of quips about stealing butter to go with the lobster, Rexing said such thefts ultimately harm consumers.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhether you eat seafood or not, they\u2019re stealing other items. They\u2019re stealing items to build your cars. They\u2019re stealing items that go into computers,\u201d he said. \u201cUltimately, that cost gets thrown to the consumer.\u201d<\/p>\n
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Imagine the buffet. Forty-thousand oysters, lobster worth $400,000 and a cache of crabmeat all were stolen in separate incidents within weeks of each other in New England. The first seafood…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":147,"featured_media":7282,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[6],"tags":[5782,1776,8263,8264,8265,8261,8262,8065],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\n