One of the most sophisticated techniques and by far the hardest one to detect is Vehicle Cloning. Cloning is to vehicles what Identity thief is to people. Actually both are tied in some ways. Read on…

Cloning is a crime in which stolen vehicles assume the identity of non-stolen, legally owned, vehicles that are a similar make and model. By applying counterfeit labels, plates, stickers and titles to stolen vehicles, criminals can make them appear as if they are legitimate, legally owned cars and trucks.  These criminals — many of whom participate in organized crime rings specializing in vehicle cloning schemes — then sell the stolen vehicles to unsuspecting consumers.

The result is that you have two or more vehicles that look exactly alike…at least by their identification documents and vehicle tags.  The reality is that only one of them is a legitimate, legally owned vehicle.  The rest are stolen and have been disguised to look like the legitimate one.

Vehicle cloning is a highly lucrative crime, with criminals netting an average of $30,000 per cloned vehicle.Vehicle cloning is a relatively easy and inexpensive crime to commit.  For less than $2,000, cloning criminals can use a computer, color printer, typewriter, barcode label printer, rotary tool and engraving pen to counterfeit a vehicle’s identification numbers, stickers, labels and titles.

Here’s how a simple cloning scheme works.

An individual will copy a vehicle identification number (VIN) from a legally owned and documented vehicle sitting in a parking lot or car dealership, oftentimes high-value sport utility vehicles and luxury cars.  The legitimate VIN is then used to create a counterfeit VIN tag, frequently multiple times.  From there, thieves steal a similar vehicle as the legally owned one from the parking lot, and replace the stolen vehicle’s VIN tag with the counterfeit one containing the non-stolen vehicle’s identification numbers.  Bearing a counterfeit tag, the stolen vehicle is now a “clone” of the legitimate one and can be titled without detection by government agencies.  To the government, the stolen vehicle looks just like the one from the parking lot…on paper that is.

To complete this scam, criminals create counterfeit ownership documents for the cloned vehicle or obtain the ownership documentation under false pretenses, such as identity theft.

They use this phony documentation to sell the stolen vehicle to an innocent purchaser, frequently at fair- or below-market value. Sophisticated cloning operations can produce vehicle clones that are virtually undetectable by consumers, and are oftentimes only discovered through physical inspections by experienced auto theft investigators.

Vehicle cloning schemes are limited only by the audacity and complicity of individuals involved in these crimes.  They use a variety of tools to ply their criminal trade.

Fraudulent/Counterfeit Documents-

Cloning operations typically alter, produce, sell and possess illegal documents, such as vehicle identification stickers, bar codes, titles, registrations, licenses and insurance cards.

Altered Vehicle Identification Numbers-

Cloning rings intentionally alter or duplicate a legitimately registered VIN and use that VIN on counterfeit ownership and registration documents, as well as the cloned vehicle.

Title Washing-

Title washing involves transferring a vehicle title among states to remove title brands and change an odometer reading.  Criminals will transfer the title among several states to disguise the vehicle’s history and confuse the ownership trail.  They use the final clean title to sell the vehicle to an unsuspecting customer.

Identity Theft-

Cloning rings frequently steal personal identification documents, such as driver’s licenses, social security numbers and credit card numbers, to obtain apparent legal ownership of a vehicle that is subsequently cloned, resold, stripped for parts or illegally exported.

The Internet-

Criminals increasingly use the Internet to scam vehicle buyers, counterfeit identification documents and steal identities. Organized criminal rings use Internet auction sites to illegally sell stolen cloned vehicles, identification tags, license plates and other parts.