Innisfail Mounties are warning the public to be careful about getting pulled into a “vehicle cloning” scam.
“It has been an issue a couple of times. Since I have been here there have been at least two files that have popped up regarding these cloned vehicles,” said Innisfail RCMP Sgt. Lori Eiler, who began her job in Innisfail at the beginning of March. She said no suspects have been apprehended in the scam and the RCMP is continuing its investigation.
Police said the illegal activity occurs when citizens are purchasing used vehicles, especially during private sales.
RCMP said vehicle cloning is a process when criminals will steal or obtain stolen vehicles and replace the VIN (vehicle identification numbers or serial numbers) with fraudulent or made up vehicle identity numbers.
The secondary VIN sticker, usually on the driver's door or on the B pillar of the vehicle below the driver's door latch, is also usually cloned to match the fraudulent VIN and placed over the original sticker location, said RCMP. Police said a lien check or public CPIC (Canadian Police Information Centre) query of the fraudulent VIN will likely show the vehicle as being legitimate and that no financial institution has a lien on the vehicle.
The vehicle is purchased and registered with the fraudulent VIN.
“Then that person may drive for three, four or six months and maybe even a year, and at some point something will come to his attention that this vehicle was stolen, at which point the police have no choice but to seize the vehicle and return it to the rightful owner, of course. But that person is out all the money, and there is very little they can do to get it back,” said Eiler. “It is getting to be a pretty popular way of defrauding people of a lot of money.
“The biggest thing is that if the deal is too good to be true, it probably is. Make sure you do due diligence to do your best to determine it is a legitimate vehicle, otherwise you are out the money,” she added.
RCMP are advising citizens to inspect the public VIN plate on the vehicle for any evidence of tampering, including scratches or missing rivets, as well as the secondary VIN sticker on the driver's door area for authenticity.
Police also advise having the VIN confirmed through electronic means by a dealership or mechanic, compare the VIN plate and secondary sticker to a vehicle of the same make and model for authenticity, and ask for and confirm and record the identification of the seller.
If any citizen in Innisfail and throughout the area suspects any vehicle as being part of a cloning scam he or she can contact Innisfail RCMP at 403-227-3343 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
