SUV Bought for $85K Is Sent to Scrapyard After VIN Fraud. How to Protect Yourself

Every day, thousands of vehicles are put up for auction and taken to used car lots, where they're sold to people like Renette Dallas.

The Maryland resident had always dreamed of owning a Range Rover, and 21 years ago, she bought a used one at a dealership in Fairfax, Virginia.

She paid $85,000 for the SUV, which had just 2,900 miles on it and was “basically brand new,” she said. The Range Rover was pricey, but Dallas said it was worth the investment. She owns a popcorn business and used the SUV to drive her products up and down the East Coast.

“Single woman, single business owner on the road — you want a reliable car," she said.

The Range Rover was so reliable that she kept it for years, updating her Maryland registration as required, and putting on more than 100,000 miles.

But in 2021, as it came time to renew her registration again, her dream car was about to become her biggest nightmare.

"She says, 'You can't register this car because it's titled in Florida'," Dallas recalled being told. "And I was like, 'Well, how is it titled in Florida? I have the title for it.'"

Maryland's Department of Transportation immediately opened an investigation. After inspecting Dallas' car, they discovered the VIN had been tampered with and replaced with a fake one. When they ran the actual VIN through a database, they discovered Dallas' beloved Rover had been reported stolen — 20 years earlier in Florida.

The news got worse for Dallas. She said Prince George's County police told her the original owners filed a theft claim with their insurance company and were paid, which means she never legally owned the car; the insurance company did.

“Within five minutes, the police officers took my vehicle from where I had it parked and left the tags," Dallas said.

She said police told her the dealership where she purchased the car had bought it at an auction, but they were unable to find out why it was sold to her with a stolen VIN. The dealership had changed ownership twice over the years.

The dealership’s new owners, according to Dallas, brushed her off when she first contacted them.

“No one cared and no one showed any remorse. And no one seems to think that anyone requires any accountability for it," she said.

In the meantime, since the insurance company never came to take possession of the Range Rover after it was towed from her home, Dallas said police sent it to a scrapyard.

So how did it go undetected for so many years that the SUV had been stolen?

According to the Maryland Department of Transportation, it wasn't until 2021 that Maryland's Motor Vehicle Administration updated its system, allowing the department to get real-time notifications on flagged vehicles that were damaged, unsafe, stolen or titled in another state through the national motor vehicle title information system.

So when Dallas tried renewing her registration that same year, the system did what it was designed to do.

"Many of these DMVs until recently have been operating on 40-year-old mainframe technology," said Ian Grossman of the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, which operates the database.

Grossman says criminals use VIN cloning to mask stolen and damaged vehicles.

"It's when you're trying to hide one VIN of the vehicle, you go out and you find a good VIN — vehicle identification number— and clone it, just like you would clone anything," he said.

It turns out that it's not that difficult to get a replacement VIN sticker or tag plate made. News4 Responds found numerous websites where we could purchase them, which means so can scammers.

Stolen vehicle information is generally restricted only to law enforcement use, which makes it hard for consumers to check before they buy a car. But there are ways you can protect yourself from VIN fraud if you are planning on buying a used car.

How to Protect Yourself From VIN Fraud

• First, make sure to inspect the vehicle’s VIN stickers and plate, to see if there are any marks or etches on it. This could indicate that the number has been overwritten or tampered with.
• Look up the VIN on a site such as Carfax that offers a report at a cost. Make sure the description matches the vehicle you plan to purchase.
• And the VIN should be the same everywhere it's identified, including in paperwork and on the vehicle.
• You could also try to check a VIN for insurance theft claims at nicb.org/vincheck.

Dallas called it all a “learning experience.”

There is some good news for her: News4 Responds reached out to the dealership, and although they did not respond to us, they did contact Dallas, who told us the matter has been resolved.