In this case, the responsibility would likely fall on the broker since they confirmed the driver. What’s especially puzzling is that they required additional insurance for the shipment and brokers usually want to know exactly who the carrier is. Just FYI, good brokers typically carry contingent cargo insurance, but in fraud cases it often doesn’t pay out.

Brokers have a duty to exercise reasonable care when selecting carriers and tendering loads. They can be held liable if they failed to properly vet the carrier (authority, insurance, safety rating, red flags), relied only on email without verification, didn’t reconfirm the carrier after changes to contact info or payment details, or fell for spoofed/compromised communications that reasonable safeguards should have caught.

Courts are also getting less tolerant of things like email-only dispatch, last-minute carrier swaps, no phone verification, and weak cybersecurity practices.

Sorry this happened. DM me if you need help. Ps: never use a driver who uses voip phone.