It seems that car thieves have found another way to steal your car or > truck without any effort at all. The car thieves peer through the > windshield of your car or truck, write down the VIN number from the label > on the dash, go to the local car dealership and request a duplicate key > based on the VIN number. > > The car dealer's parts dept will make a duplicate key from the VIN number > and collect payment from the thief who will return to your car. He > doesn't have to break in, do any damage to the vehicle, or draw attention > to himself. All he has to do is to walk up to your car, insert the key > and off he goes to a local chop shop with your vehicle. You don't believe > it? It IS that easy. > > To avoid this from happening to you, simply put some tape > (electrical tape, duct tape or medical tape) across the VIN label located > on the dash board. By law, you cannot remove the VIN number, but you can > cover it so it can't be viewed through the windshield by a car thief. > > > >
Once again, lbrown59 is fresh with a posting he thinks will help someone. Since he apparently borrowed the information from somewhere (i.e., probably from a spam email), I'll feel free to do the same (i.e., from a reputable site which fights panicky urban legends). To quote: You can't just stroll into a dealership with a VIN number written on a post-it note and expect them to instantly give you a new key and send you on your way. Most reputable dealerships require documented proof of ownership before they will make a new key. The actual scam goes something like this: First, the thief finds the car he wants to steal and copies the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) from a label on the dash. He then uses the VIN to forge documents to "prove" he owns the vehicle. Armed with the fake title and/or registration and ID, he goes to the dealership (or sends an accomplice) to request a replacement key. If fooled by the documents, the dealer must then contact the vehicle manufacturer to get the specifications for making the key. Hours later, the crook leaves with new keys in hand, ready to "effortlessly" drive off in the newly-stolen vehicle. This scheme requires a lot of effort and personal interaction that most car thieves try to avoid. Car theft is usually a crime of convenience. It seems illogical for a thief to go through this much effort to obtain a car without damage, only to take it to a "chop shop" to be dismantled, as the letter implies. You might typically only expect a thief to expend the effort required in this scheme to steal a very valuable vehicle that needs to be undamaged in order to resell it whole. Another critical component of this scam is a vehicle that can be depended upon to be in the same place for a long time or at the same time each day. Public parking lots and street-side parking are not reliable, so you'd seldom see this type of theft there. Fact is, the most common mark for this kind of scam is used car lots, where vehicles often sit in the same spot for days. A thief may case the lot one day posing as a customer, come back (or send an accomplice) for the key later or even the next day, then return to steal the car after dark or later in the week. The chain is absolutely right about one thing: it is illegal to remove, destroy or alter your vehicle's VIN label. The Vehicle Identification Number system was created to facilitate the return of stolen vehicles and actually serves to deter theft. You could cover it, if it makes you feel better, but be aware of these caveats: Your dash is not the only location your VIN may be displayed. Many newer cars have a bar-code sticker inside the driver's door, the rear window or even in the engine compartment. Local regulations and laws may prohibit obscuring your VIN. Check with area law enforcement as well as facilities management anywhere you regularly park your car to see if covering your VIN is allowed. Many theft-prevention experts actually recommend that you duplicate your VIN on numerous surfaces throughout your vehicle, including the windows. In order to resell a stolen vehicle (or any of its component parts), a theif must remove all instances of the VIN that identifies it as stolen. A car riddled with VINs would make a very unattractive mark. As you can see, this scam is neither easy nor common. The information this chain lacks, combined with the misinformation it has in abundance, make this warning virtually useless. Break this chain. I hope this allays the fearmongering attempt. Doc
Doc, you already know lbrown59 has no life. I figure he's on everyone's scam e-mail list, forwards them all on to everyone he knows, then posts them all here so he gets lots of posts. Hopefully most people will realize this before they're here very long. I hope he doesn't really believe all of this stuff. Most of us have learned by now that if anything says forward this to everyone you know, DON'T. You can tell it's cut and pasted from a forwarded e-mail by the arrows in front of each line. When I see that, I automatically ignore it.
