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Clips From the Clerk

 

 

Motor Vehicle Fraud

Motor Vehicle Fraud occurs when an individual purchases a used vehicle and has been misled about vehicle. The seller may not be forthright about the vehicle's condition at the time of sale, or the VIN number has been altered to hide its past from the buyer. Consumers need to be aware of the hazards of potential misinformation about the actual condition of the vehicle and its title.

Types of Motor Vehicle Fraud:

  • Damaged or Salvaged Titles

Poorly rebuilt vehicles involve vehicles that may have been wrecked or salvaged. These vehicles may be unfit or hazardous to drive or are priced too high for their actual condition, despite their outside appearance. A majority of these vehicles were in accidents or floods. They may have steering or engine problems, defective brakes, or poorly welded parts. 

  • Odometer Fraud

Odometer fraud is the disconnection, resetting or alteration of a vehicle’s odometer with the intent to change the number of miles indicated. NHTSA estimates that more than 450,000 vehicles are sold each year with false odometer readings. This crime costs American car buyers more than $1 billion annually.

  • Beware of “Cloned” Vehicles

Vehicle cloning is a highly lucrative crime. Enterprising criminals can copy a VIN from a legally owned and documented vehicle sitting in a parking lot, on the street or at a vehicle dealership. The copied VIN is then used to create counterfeit VIN tags. Car thieves often travel across state and international borders to sell vehicles at the highest prices. Because most licensing agencies do not check for duplicate ownership when an out-of-state ownership document is surrendered, the odds of discovery are fairly low.

HERE’S HOW THE SCAM WORKS

  • The criminal steals a vehicle similar to the one with the legitimate VIN.
  • The stolen vehicle’s true VIN tag is replaced with the counterfeit VIN tag, making the stolen vehicle a “clone” of the original.
  • The criminal sells the “cloned” vehicle to an unsuspecting buyer, typically using counterfeit ownership documents or documentation they have obtained under false pretenses.

 

 

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