The FBI is making car cloning — identify theft for automobiles — a top priority after a huge bust in Tampa netted 17 arrests and the breakup of a long-term car cloning enterprise.
“It’s a serious crime problem that’s being aggressively investigated by law enforcement,” the FBI said in a statement this week.
So how does this work? When your car gets stolen — FBI says it’s usually a luxury car or stacked SUV — the thief pries off the VIN number and replaces it with another number, the VIN number of a legitimate, non-stolen car with the same make, model and year but usually from a different state.
The thief also doctors up phony ownership documents that allow the vehicle to be easily registered somewhere else.
In the Tampa case, more than 1,000 cars were cloned and sold in 20 states with a $25 million loss to owners and insurers.
The tactic was highlighted on the USA Network television show “Burn Notice” recently.
If you buy a cloned car, and the police bust the thief and find you, they’ll take the car back. Then you’re out of luck.
Worse, if your legitimate car gets cloned, you could be the victim of parking tickets, toll violations, speeding, and other nasty offenses.
The good news is that a new national database may help get rid of car cloning.
“Enter NMVTIS, or the National Motor Vehicle Title Information System. This Department of Justice database, operated by the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, is an electronic system that links state motor vehicle departments together “¦ and once fully operational should go a long way towards shutting down car cloning activities,” the FBI said. “If a car is titled in one state, a criminal should not be able to steal its VIN and use it on another vehicle in another state — the database will spit out a hit showing that the number is already in use.”
So far, 37 states participate or are in the process of participating in the system. A federal law mandated the creation of the database and the participation of all 50 states by next year.
How can you prevent cloning?
- If you think your car was cloned (for instance, you receive notice of unpaid parking tickets that aren’t yours), contact your local police.
- If you’re car shopping, beware of a car being sold for substantially less than comparable makes and models.
- Get a copy of the car’s vehicle history report.
- Check out the VIN plate on the dashboard for any evidence of tampering (scratches, etc.)
- Look for incorrect spellings on paperwork, like vehicle titles.
- Trust your intuition”"if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is!
