FBI Warns Public About Cloned Cars

The FBI has warned the public about the practice of car cloning - the practice of stealing the identity of a legal vehicle and putting it onto a stolen car so that it can be registered and sold. The warning came after the arrest of 17 people in the Tampa area who were major players in the car cloning enterprise.

The FBI hopes a planned national database will eliminate the car cloning practice.

Here's how car cloning works: the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) plate is removed from a stolen car and replaced with one taken off a legal vehicle in another state which is a similar make and model. Phony ownership papers are created for the stolen car which can then be registered in another state.

Once the vehicle is registered, it can be sold to the public. The car cloning practice is usually confined to luxury cars and fully-loaded SUVs, according to the FBI.

In the Tampa case, more than 1,000 cloned cars were sold in 20 states.

The problem for the buyer is if the car they buy was originally a stolen car and that fact is discovered, the vehicle will be confiscated and the buyer will not be compensated for their loss. In the Tampa case, victims lost more than $25 million.

The FBI hopes that the new National Motor Vehicle Title Information System, a Department of Justice database operated by the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, will end the car cloning scam once it is fully operational. It will create a national database of VIN information. So far, 37 states are included in the database.

How to Avoid Car Cloning

Cons and Scams:

• Common Fraud Elements
  
• Phony Escrow Services
  
• Advance-Fee Fraud Schemes

^{Photo: FBI}