Warehouse theft rarely looks like a dramatic break-in. More often it is a few cases a week leaving through a dock door, a receiving count that is quietly adjusted, or a load released to someone who was never supposed to have it. This guide covers the three main ways goods leave a warehouse without authorization and the controls that address each one.

The three ways inventory disappears

Internal theft

Employees or temporary workers removing goods, or manipulating receiving, shipping and inventory records to hide shortages.

External theft

Burglary after hours, theft of staged trailers from the yard, and opportunistic theft through unattended doors.

Theft by deception

Fictitious pickups and impersonated carriers who collect real freight with false paperwork.

Each needs different controls, and most losses involve a gap in more than one. A useful exercise is to ask, for each, "How would we know?" If the honest answer is "at the next physical inventory," detection is too slow.

What the fraud data says

The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners' Occupational Fraud 2026 study analyzed 2,402 cases. The findings are directly relevant to warehouse operators:

  • The median loss per case was $104,000, and a typical scheme ran about 12 months before it was discovered.
  • Tips were the leading detection method at 43% of cases, and more than half of those tips came from employees. Internal audit found 15% and management review 13%.
  • A total lack of internal controls contributed to about a third of cases; overridden controls and poor management oversight each contributed to roughly a fifth.
  • Wholesale trade had one of the highest median losses by industry, at $256,000.
  • Asset misappropriation, which includes theft of inventory, appeared in about 90% of cases.

The practical takeaway: controls and a way to report concerns matter more than catching people in the act.

Controls for internal theft

Internal theft depends on access to goods plus the ability to hide the shortage. Break one of those links and most schemes become difficult.

  1. Separate duties. The person who receives goods should not also adjust inventory records or approve write-offs. In small operations where that is not possible, have a manager review adjustments weekly.
  2. Count often, and count blind. Cycle counts on high-value and fast-moving items, performed by someone other than the person responsible for the location, find problems in weeks rather than months. See inventory control and shrinkage tracking for a cycle-count program.
  3. Review adjustments and returns. Unusual write-offs, damaged-goods dispositions and customer returns are common places to hide theft.
  4. Control what leaves. Outbound loads should be checked against the pick list and sealed with the seal number recorded. Watch trash, recycling and scrap streams, which can carry goods out of the building.
  5. Restrict personal items. Lockers outside the storage area and a clear policy on bags and employee vehicles near the dock reduce opportunity.
  6. Screen consistently. Apply the same lawful background screening to staffing-agency workers as to direct hires in comparable positions, and confirm with the agency what it checks.

Our article on employee theft prevention covers policies, culture and investigation steps in more detail.

Make reporting easy

Because tips detect more fraud than any other method, give employees a way to raise concerns without going through their supervisor: a hotline, web form or a named manager outside the chain of command. In the ACFE data, organizations with formal reporting tools had a lower median loss than those without.

Controls for external theft

  • Harden the perimeter. Fencing, gate control and lighting around the yard; locks and alarms on every exterior and dock door.
  • Protect staged freight. Loaded trailers waiting for pickup should be sealed, locked and parked where cameras and staff can see them. Use kingpin or landing-gear locks on high-value trailers.
  • Monitor after hours. A monitored intrusion alarm with prompt response is the most effective after-hours control for most buildings.
  • Do not trap your own people. OSHA requires exit route doors to open from the inside without keys, tools or special knowledge; secure them with approved alarmed hardware rather than chains or padlocks.

See access control for warehouses for zoning, credentials and visitor management, and security camera systems for camera placement and retention.

Controls for theft by deception

Verisk CargoNet recorded 2,646 confirmed cargo thefts in the U.S. and Canada in 2025, up 18% from the prior year, with estimated losses near $725 million. Food and beverage was the most stolen category. CargoNet expects schemes that misdirect shipments tendered to legitimate carriers to keep growing, and many of those schemes are completed at a shipper's dock.

Step at the dockWhy it matters
Issue a unique pickup number to the assigned carrier onlyA driver who cannot produce it should not receive the load
Check the driver's license and the tractor and trailer plates against the paperworkImpostors often have plausible documents but the wrong equipment
Call the carrier at the number listed in FMCSA's SAFER system when anything differsFMCSA notes that numbers on paperwork and even insurance certificates can be fraudulent
Treat last-minute carrier or equipment changes as a reason to pauseSchedule changes are a common setup for fictitious pickups

When you suspect a loss

How you respond in the first days affects both the investigation and any insurance claim. A simple, written procedure keeps managers from improvising:

  1. Preserve evidence first. Export and save the relevant video before it is overwritten, along with access-control logs, pick lists, bills of lading and seal records.
  2. Limit who knows. Keep the matter to the people who need to be involved until the facts are clearer.
  3. Do not confront alone. Interviews of employees should follow your HR policy and, where the stakes are high, involve HR or counsel.
  4. Document the shortage. Recount the affected locations, record what is missing and its cost, and note when it was last verified.
  5. Report promptly. File a police report for theft and notify your broker and insurer as soon as practical. Late notice is one of the most avoidable claim problems, and crime policies typically set specific discovery and notice requirements.
  6. Fix the gap. Once the cause is known, change the control that allowed it, and record what you changed.

How insurance typically responds

The policy that responds depends on who took the goods and how. Wording varies by carrier and policy, so treat this as a general map:

  • Burglary and outside theft of your own stock is usually addressed by commercial property coverage, sometimes with theft sublimits or security conditions.
  • Employee theft is generally excluded from property and cargo forms and is the job of a commercial crime policy. Motor truck cargo forms almost always exclude theft by employees.
  • Customers' goods in your care are typically covered by warehouse legal liability rather than your own property policy, and usually only when you are legally liable.
  • Loads released to an impostor are frequently limited or excluded. Ask specifically how your property, cargo and crime forms treat fraudulent pickups.

Shortages discovered only through an inventory count can be hard to prove as theft, and many forms restrict claims that rely on inventory computation alone. Good records, video and documented investigations help. Our warehouse insurance page describes the core program for storage operations.

When to call a broker

Call us when inventory values or commodities change, when you take on a customer whose contract makes you responsible for their goods, after any theft or attempted fraud, or if you are not sure whether you carry crime coverage at all. As a broker, we compare options across the market and shape coverage around how your warehouse actually works.

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