Police issue warning about re-vinned vehicles

CTV Calgary: Police warn about cloned cars Calgary police are investigating the VIN cloning or 're-vinning' of vehicles. Lea Williams-Doherty has what you need to know.

Auto theft investigators are alerting the public to a scam involving cloned vehicle identification numbers and are advising consumers to do their homework before they make the purchase.

The Calgary Police Service Auto Theft Unit has recovered over 45 vehicles this year that have been cloned or re-vinned.

“This is a trend that we’re seeing dramatic spikes in the last three or four years,” said CPS S/Sgt. Rob Rutledge. “Many, many years ago, this was a trend that originated out of eastern Canada and vehicles were being re-vinned or cloned out there, sent out to Alberta, sold to unsuspecting consumers, but now we’re seeing our own Alberta criminals doing the same thing.”

Police say the cloning process typically works as follows and usually involves a private sale:

Police say the vehicles they are recovering are high-end cars, trucks and SUVs in the $50,000 to $60,000 range.

“This is definitely organized crime, there’s a huge profit to be made, particularly if you’re obtaining the vehicles by fraud or theft and selling to unsuspecting consumers, they’re making thousands and thousands of dollars. We’ve seized vehicles off of a lot of motorcycle gang members and other organized crime groups in Calgary,” said S/Sgt. Rutledge.

Police say the consumer is out the money when they go to the door and seize the vehicle.

“They’re out that money because the vehicle was originally stolen from someone else or from the victim’s insurance company,” said Rutledge.

Police say consumers can take a few steps to reduce the risks when buying a used vehicle:

Consumers can also check VIN numbers on the Canadian Police Information Centre website to see if the vehicle is listed as stolen.

Police say that they investigated about ten incidents three years ago and they are currently looking for several more vehicles in addition to the 45 they have already identified this year.