Here’s Why Thieves Have No Trouble Registering Stolen Cars

  • Canadian thieves are using real VINs to register and sell stolen vehicles.
  • Over 140,000 cloned VINs may be circulating across Canada today.
  • Publicly listed VINs on sales sites may unintentionally aid car thieves.

Vehicle Identification Numbers are like social security numbers for cars and reveal a lot of info about them. Besides make, model, and powertrain details, VINs can be used for an assortment of other purposes, including running vehicle history reports.

More: Watch The Moment A VIN Switcher Gets Busted At Ford Dealership

However, they’re also used to register vehicles and this is where things can take a nasty turn. According to CTV News, some thieves have discovered they can effectively steal a car without much effort.

Dealerships Caught in the Middle

The station talked to an Ontario dealer, who had a Mercedes G-Class Squared in their inventory. When a customer bought it and the dealership tried to transfer it to them, they were told the luxury SUV no longer belonged to the dealer despite still being in their possession. It’s believed thieves got the VIN and used it on documents to help register a stolen G-Class.

The process is known as ‘re-vinning’ and it’s appealing to thieves as it enables them to easily sell stolen vehicles. Carfax estimates there could be over 140,000 vehicles with cloned VINs driving around in Canada, with many of them likely being stolen.

Here’s Why Thieves Have No Trouble Registering Stolen Cars

To combat the issue, the company announced a new VIN Fraud Check tool in April. It alerts dealers if a vehicle’s VIN “contains data indicating potential fraud, or if it has been reported stolen in North America.” However, no system is perfect and it appears some government employees might be helping thieves.

Public VIN Listings Make It Easy

It’s not clear how thieves got the VIN to the G-Class, but they’re pretty easy to come across online. In fact, Carfax’s own website lists the VINs of vehicles sitting at dealerships right below their price and mileage.

This means if you stole a 2018 Kia Optima, you could simply use Carfax to find a similar model on sale. You could then use that car’s VIN and forged documents to try and get your stolen vehicle registered as the ‘clean’ one.

Here’s Why Thieves Have No Trouble Registering Stolen Cars

Carfax


The Auto World

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