WSVN — A new scam is hitting South Florida, and it’s leaving victims without their cars. Find out how you can protect yourself in tonight’s special report, "Hot Wheels."
For some of us, a car is a status symbol. For others, it’s a necessity.
Felix Legreca: "Here in Florida, the car is not a luxury. You need a car here."
Felix Legreca wanted a black Chrysler 300.
Felix Legreca: "The car was beautiful, perfect, everything good."
He finally found one online for $10,000. His dad helped seal the deal.
Felix Legreca: "It’s going to be my birthday, and my dad gave me the money. He told me, ‘Listen, buy the car that you want.’"
With birthday cash in hand, Felix did his homework.
Felix Legreca: "I called the insurance company, everything was good, everything was fine."
It was a smooth ride, until the police showed up.
Felix Legreca: "They just asked me to go down to see the car. ‘You can’t have this car because this is a stolen car.’"
Troopers told Felix he was the victim of car cloning. A fake vehicle identification number, or VIN, was put on a stolen car and sold to him.
Chris Basso, CARFAX: "VIN cloning is a way that professional con men mask the identity of a stolen vehicle in order to sell that stolen car to an unsuspecting consumer."
The criminals steal a car, then find the same make and model in a parking lot.
Chris Basso: "Easy as going to a parking garage or a parking lot somewhere and writing down the vehicle identification number. Manipulate paperwork, create a new VIN plate and slap that on a stolen vehicle."
When unsuspecting buyers like Felix run the VIN number, it comes back as a legal car. Not stolen.
Felix not only lost his car, but he was also out the $10,000 he paid for it because the seller disappeared. And he’s not the only victim.
Chris Basso: "VIN cloning is a huge problem, and unfortunately, Florida is a hotbed. The average consumer loses about $25,000 to $30,000."
To protect yourself, get a car history report and look for these red flags.
Chris Basso: "If you see things like registrations in a number of different states over a short period of time, mileage rates that don’t quite add up and even service records in different areas. Those could all be indicators that you have a stolen or cloned vehicle."
Felix had to buy another car, but this time he went to a reputable dealer. Learning from his mistake, so he doesn’t get hot wheels again.
Felix Legreca: "I’m not going to make any transactions again with people that I don’t know."
Officials say to always ask for a car history report, and if you can’t get one from a seller, walk away.
FOR MORE INFO:
CARFAX
http://www.carfax.com/
West Kendall Toyota
www.westkendalltoyota.com