Victims losing vehicles to ID number racket
David J. Cieslak
The Arizona Republic
Nov. 3, 2004 12:00 AM
It was just an old truck, but to Benito and Guadalupe Lopez, it was a lifeline.
The clunky pickup, bought at a swap meet three years ago with their entire savings of $2,000, was the family's sole means of transportation from their cramped mobile home in Peoria.
So when police suddenly seized the pickup last month, the family's shock and anger were quickly replaced with feelings of panic and worry. They no longer had a vehicle and didn't have a clue when they'd have enough money to buy another.
"We can't go places anymore. I'm a little sad now," said 10-year-old Marissa Ramirez, Benito and Guadalupe's daughter. "Why did they have to take the truck?"
Without warning, the family joined an unfortunate and frustrated group of Valley residents bilked by thieves who switch Vehicle Identification Numbers on cars and trucks, then sell the vehicles before disappearing with thousands of dollars. In Arizona, which ranks No. 1 in the country for auto theft, the list of victims grows every day.
Adding insult to injury, police frequently are forced to seize the vehicles, often leaving the victimized families without transportation and no money to buy a new car.
Officials overwhelmed
Authorities say the decades-old scam has grown to epidemic levels in Phoenix, and investigators acknowledge they're quickly becoming overwhelmed by the thefts.
"These guys are quick. Every time we find a way to plug the hole, they find a way around it," said Phoenix police Lt. Lisa Messina, head of the department's Auto Theft Unit.
Police say they have arrested suspected auto thieves who admit to switching as many as 20 VINs in a month. In Phoenix, crooks stole 18,718 vehicles worth a total of $124 million last year. Nationwide in 2002, more than $8 billion was lost to auto thieves, according to statistics compiled by Allstate Insurance Co.
If car theft were a national business, it would rank No. 220 on the Fortune 500 list, said Andrew Luck, Allstate's marketing manager.
"People used to steal cars just to joyride. It's not the same anymore," Luck said. "This is a huge problem."
Insurance officials and police agree that layering a vehicle with security systems, from alarms to steering wheel locks, helps stymie auto thieves and prevent VIN switching.
To switch a VIN, thieves obtain a legitimate title and use a VIN from a similar vehicle often found at a junkyard.
The suspects steal a vehicle closely matching the one with the lifted VIN, then pry off the dashboard or windshield and attach the new number. Thieves also peel stickers containing the VIN off the vehicle's doors to help cover up the scam.
In most cases, police say the rip-off is preventable if people take the vehicle to the state Motor Vehicle Division and request a VIN inspection before completing the transaction. If the seller resists or refuses to go to the MVD, investigators suggest the buyer walk away from the deal.
Phoenix police auto theft Detective Zeke Green sees victims like the Lopez family almost daily. Each new case adds to Green's caseload and his frustration level.
Increased workload
"It's terribly time-consuming and it takes us away from investigating other things," Green said. "For us, it's a massive increase in workload and the families dealing with this aren't wealthy people who can just go out and buy a new car. It's got to be tough on any family."
Benito, 29, and Guadalupe, 24, thought they did everything right when they bought their 1979 GMC pickup at a north Phoenix swap meet.
The truck's paperwork appeared to be in order. MVD officials didn't raise any red flags when the couple asked for a VIN inspection the day after the sale.
Even a year later, when they updated the title and registration, no one at the state office mentioned that the truck was stolen.
It wasn't until one night last month when police confronted Guadalupe and her children outside a Phoenix movie theater that they learned their truck wasn't really their truck.
"This was the most humiliating thing that has ever happened in my life," Guadalupe said.
"We purchased this vehicle with our hard-earned money and we put a lot of money into it and I just didn't think it was fair for the police to take it from us."
Investigators can't understand why the system repeatedly failed the couple. Green encouraged people to purchase the highest of the MVD's three levels of VIN inspections in hopes that someone at the state office would recognize a deficiency.
Now, a family already struggling to make ends meet is facing a new set of challenges.
Benito, a cook at a Valley nursing home who earns $290 a week, has no vehicle to get to work. Guadalupe, who's trying to find work after losing her job at Wal-Mart, can't drive her children to school in the mornings anymore.
"Why did he do that to us?" Benito asked, referring to the thief who sold the stolen truck. "If you only knew everything we're going through now."
Still, Guadalupe hopes Valley residents will learn from their mistake.
"Be very careful. If you have to drive to MVD the same day, do it," she said.
"I just wish someone could do something about this. We have no money, we have no savings, anything."
David J. Cieslak
The Arizona Republic
Nov. 3, 2004 12:00 AM
It was just an old truck, but to Benito and Guadalupe Lopez, it was a lifeline.
The clunky pickup, bought at a swap meet three years ago with their entire savings of $2,000, was the family's sole means of transportation from their cramped mobile home in Peoria.
So when police suddenly seized the pickup last month, the family's shock and anger were quickly replaced with feelings of panic and worry. They no longer had a vehicle and didn't have a clue when they'd have enough money to buy another.
"We can't go places anymore. I'm a little sad now," said 10-year-old Marissa Ramirez, Benito and Guadalupe's daughter. "Why did they have to take the truck?"
Without warning, the family joined an unfortunate and frustrated group of Valley residents bilked by thieves who switch Vehicle Identification Numbers on cars and trucks, then sell the vehicles before disappearing with thousands of dollars. In Arizona, which ranks No. 1 in the country for auto theft, the list of victims grows every day.
Adding insult to injury, police frequently are forced to seize the vehicles, often leaving the victimized families without transportation and no money to buy a new car.
Officials overwhelmed
Authorities say the decades-old scam has grown to epidemic levels in Phoenix, and investigators acknowledge they're quickly becoming overwhelmed by the thefts.
"These guys are quick. Every time we find a way to plug the hole, they find a way around it," said Phoenix police Lt. Lisa Messina, head of the department's Auto Theft Unit.
Police say they have arrested suspected auto thieves who admit to switching as many as 20 VINs in a month. In Phoenix, crooks stole 18,718 vehicles worth a total of $124 million last year. Nationwide in 2002, more than $8 billion was lost to auto thieves, according to statistics compiled by Allstate Insurance Co.
If car theft were a national business, it would rank No. 220 on the Fortune 500 list, said Andrew Luck, Allstate's marketing manager.
"People used to steal cars just to joyride. It's not the same anymore," Luck said. "This is a huge problem."
Insurance officials and police agree that layering a vehicle with security systems, from alarms to steering wheel locks, helps stymie auto thieves and prevent VIN switching.
To switch a VIN, thieves obtain a legitimate title and use a VIN from a similar vehicle often found at a junkyard.
The suspects steal a vehicle closely matching the one with the lifted VIN, then pry off the dashboard or windshield and attach the new number. Thieves also peel stickers containing the VIN off the vehicle's doors to help cover up the scam.
In most cases, police say the rip-off is preventable if people take the vehicle to the state Motor Vehicle Division and request a VIN inspection before completing the transaction. If the seller resists or refuses to go to the MVD, investigators suggest the buyer walk away from the deal.
Phoenix police auto theft Detective Zeke Green sees victims like the Lopez family almost daily. Each new case adds to Green's caseload and his frustration level.
Increased workload
"It's terribly time-consuming and it takes us away from investigating other things," Green said. "For us, it's a massive increase in workload and the families dealing with this aren't wealthy people who can just go out and buy a new car. It's got to be tough on any family."
Benito, 29, and Guadalupe, 24, thought they did everything right when they bought their 1979 GMC pickup at a north Phoenix swap meet.
The truck's paperwork appeared to be in order. MVD officials didn't raise any red flags when the couple asked for a VIN inspection the day after the sale.
Even a year later, when they updated the title and registration, no one at the state office mentioned that the truck was stolen.
It wasn't until one night last month when police confronted Guadalupe and her children outside a Phoenix movie theater that they learned their truck wasn't really their truck.
"This was the most humiliating thing that has ever happened in my life," Guadalupe said.
"We purchased this vehicle with our hard-earned money and we put a lot of money into it and I just didn't think it was fair for the police to take it from us."
Investigators can't understand why the system repeatedly failed the couple. Green encouraged people to purchase the highest of the MVD's three levels of VIN inspections in hopes that someone at the state office would recognize a deficiency.
Now, a family already struggling to make ends meet is facing a new set of challenges.
Benito, a cook at a Valley nursing home who earns $290 a week, has no vehicle to get to work. Guadalupe, who's trying to find work after losing her job at Wal-Mart, can't drive her children to school in the mornings anymore.
"Why did he do that to us?" Benito asked, referring to the thief who sold the stolen truck. "If you only knew everything we're going through now."
Still, Guadalupe hopes Valley residents will learn from their mistake.
"Be very careful. If you have to drive to MVD the same day, do it," she said.
"I just wish someone could do something about this. We have no money, we have no savings, anything."
