Imagine a container arriving at an Australian port. The paperwork names a well-known, well-regarded Australian company as the importer. The business registration number looks right. The address checks out. Everything, at a glance, appears legitimate.
Except that the company named on the documents has no idea that the shipment exists. And the container does not contain what the paperwork says it does.
This is piggybacking. It is a real and growing form of import fraud, a direct concern for the Australian Border Force, and something Peter McRae’s team at Platinum® Freight Management is trained to catch before it ever reaches the border.
How It Works
The Mechanics of Piggybacking
Piggybacking works by exploiting the reputation of legitimate Australian businesses. Fraudulent importers research a real company, obtain its correct legal name and business registration details, and construct a set of import documents that appear to originate from that company.
The goal is straightforward: get a shipment containing illegal goods through the border by presenting it as a routine commercial import from a business with a clean compliance history. Border agencies are less likely to scrutinise a well-known importer than an unknown one.
Peter explains how the fraud tends to reveal itself in practice:
“Take a major Australian retailer as an example. Their correct legal entity name might be something like Saturn and Moon Pty Limited. What these people do is create all of the paperwork saying that this company has imported these goods. And then they make little amendments. The email address on the documentation might be that company’s name at Gmail. A major Australian retailer would not have a Gmail account.”
— Peter McRae | Licensed Customs Broker, Platinum® Freight Management
That single detail, an email address that does not match the scale and sophistication of the company being impersonated, is the kind of tell that a trained customs broker catches immediately. A logistics operator who is simply processing paperwork and booking container movements may not be looking for it at all.
What is inside the container being moved under a borrowed identity? In most cases, nothing legal. Peter is direct about this.
“More than likely, what is inside that container is illegal. The whole point is to use someone else’s good reputation to get that shipment through the border unchecked.”
— Peter McRae | Licensed Customs Broker, Platinum® Freight Management
The Risk to Legitimate Businesses
Why This Is a Problem for Companies That Are Not Even Involved
The immediate risk is obvious: illegal goods enter Australia. But piggybacking creates a secondary problem that affects the companies being impersonated.
A legitimate business whose name, ABN, and legal details have been used in fraudulent import documentation may be subject to Australian Border Force inquiries. Resolving that kind of scrutiny takes time, legal resources, and management attention. The reputational damage, even when the company is clearly a victim, is real.
For smaller businesses, the risk is different but no less serious. A fraudulent shipment submitted in a small importer’s name, without their knowledge, can create a compliance record that follows them through future dealings with the Australian Border Force. Customs history matters. A problem on the record, even one the importer did not cause, is a problem to explain.
How Platinum® Catches It
Attention to Detail Is Not Optional. It Is the Job.
When Platinum® Freight Management takes on a new client, the onboarding process is not a formality. It is a structured verification exercise designed to confirm that the person or business requesting that Platinum® submit import declarations on their behalf is exactly who they claim to be.
Peter describes what that looks like in practice:
“We have to make sure: is the email address right, is the phone number right, is the person listed in ASIC the actual person who is asking us to do the work? Attention to detail is a high priority.”
— Peter McRae | Licensed Customs Broker, Platinum® Freight Management
The ASIC cross-check is particularly important. Australia’s corporate registry is publicly searchable, which means that for any company seeking to import goods, Platinum® can verify the named directors, confirm the registered address, and cross-reference the contact details provided against what the company has publicly lodged.
A discrepancy between what a client submits and what appears in the public record is not automatically evidence of fraud. But it is a conversation that needs to happen before any customs entry is lodged in that entity’s name.
Most legitimate importers pass this process without ever noticing it. It is built into the way Platinum® works. For clients who have never worked with a customs broker who applies this level of diligence, the difference becomes apparent when they see what their previous broker was and was not checking.
New ABF Requirements
What Changed in 2024: The New Identity Verification Rules
The Australian Border Force introduced updated identity verification requirements for customs brokers in 2024. Under these requirements, Platinum® must obtain and verify identity documentation for every importing client before lodging customs entries on their behalf.
The requirements differ depending on how the importing entity is structured:
Individual importers: Two pieces of identification are required. One must have current colour photo identification such as a driver’s licence or passport. The second piece does not need to be a photo ID.
Corporate importers: Where a business has multiple directors, Platinum® requires colour photo identification plus one additional piece of identification from one director. The full director structure is verified against ASIC records.
These requirements exist for a reason. They make it significantly harder to construct a fraudulent import identity because the documentation required to impersonate a business or individual must match records maintained by independent government agencies.
Peter is frank about the practical friction this creates, particularly in the current environment:
“With all the data breaches, people are more concerned about their ID being compromised. That makes our job a little more difficult, because clients are understandably cautious about handing over identification. But we have obligations we cannot step around.”
— Peter McRae | Licensed Customs Broker, Platinum® Freight Management
The major data breaches affecting Australian businesses and consumers in recent years have made identity documents feel like a liability rather than a formality. Peter understands that hesitation. But the ABF requirements are not discretionary, and a customs broker who does not comply with them faces consequences that extend well beyond any individual shipment.
For Legitimate Importers
What This Means When You Onboard with Platinum®
If you are a legitimate importer engaging Platinum® Freight Management for the first time, the verification process is not a reflection of suspicion. It is the standard Peter applies to every new client, without exception, because it protects everyone.
Here is what to expect and how to make the process straightforward:
The Broader Picture
Why Compliance Pressure on Customs Brokers Keeps Increasing
Piggybacking is one symptom of a broader trend that Peter has watched develop throughout his career. The compliance obligations placed on licensed customs brokers have grown substantially since he first obtained his licence in 1998.
Continuing professional development requirements, increasing documentation standards, rising professional indemnity insurance premiums, and identity verification obligations have all added to the operational cost and complexity of running a licensed brokerage. These are not arbitrary burdens.
They exist because customs brokers sit at one of the most sensitive points in Australia’s border control system. Every import declaration lodged by a licensed broker carries that broker’s professional responsibility. Every check that Platinum® performs on a new client is one that the Australian Border Force relies on having been performed correctly.
“Our job is much tougher in 2026 than it was in the early 2000s. There is more compliance, more spotlight, more responsibility on our shoulders. At the end of the day, we are an agent for the importer. But we are also a licensed professional with obligations to the Australian Border Force.”
— Peter McRae | Licensed Customs Broker, Platinum® Freight Management
For importers, this means that working with a licensed, experienced customs broker is not just about getting goods through the border efficiently. It is about working with someone who takes their professional obligations seriously enough to catch what others miss.
Speak with Platinum® Freight Management
Platinum® Freight Management’s client verification process is thorough because thoroughness is what legitimate importers deserve and what the Australian Border Force requires. If you are looking for a customs broker who takes their obligations seriously, call Peter McRae’s team today.
Call 1300 882 877Every shipment has a number. Every person has a name. Platinum® knows the difference.
Platinum® Freight Management is a licensed customs brokerage operating Australia-wide since 2000. Peter McRae holds a Master of International Customs Law and a Master of International Revenue Administration (University of Canberra) and has been a licensed customs broker since 1998. Member: IFCBAA and Freight & Trade Alliance. ABN 58 095 228 934.