How to avoid being duped by car cloning scams

Beware of cloned vehicle identification numbers when buying cars, boats and more, police warn but there are a few things you can do to protect yourself.

Humans are not the only victims of identity theft: cars, trucks, boats, snowmobiles and bobcats can also all have their personal information stolen through VIN cloning, police say.

Thieves copy the vehicle identification number, or VIN, from a legally registered car and attach it to a stolen vehicle.

"A VIN number is a unique identifier for a vehicle that you can liken to a fingerprint for the vehicle," said Calgary Police Staff Sgt. Kristie Verheul.

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She said the Economic Crime Unit deals with one or two reports of cloned vehicles every week.

"It is a very lucrative business vehicles as high as $50,000 a piece being cloned."

Beware of online deals

"Unfortunately once they're deemed to be cloned,those vehicles are seized and taken away from that victim," said Verheul.

Here's how she recommends you protect yourself from a bad deal:

• Be leery of cars being sold personally through online advertisements
• Before finalizing the deal, obtain a photocopy of the seller's ID
• Examine the VIN and look to see if it's been tampered with. It can be found on the dashboard below the windshield or on the driver-side door frame.
• Run the VIN through the free verification services on theCanadian Police Information Centre andInsurance Bureau of Canada websitesto check if the vehicle was stolen or written off
• Have a vehicle information report done at an Alberta registry office

Vehicle theft on the rise

Verheul said overall,vehicle theft in Calgaryis on the rise.

She said every month, about 100 vehicles are reported missing inthe city.

Of that, about 20 per cent are unrecovered meaning they could be getting cloned and sold in other jurisdictions.

Edmonton police warn about car cloning

8 years ago

Duration 0:33

Car thieves are getting increasingly crafty when it comes to making a stolen vehicle appear legitimate.

With files from the CBC's Evelyne Asselin