This is the text of the article in the Free Press in part.
==================================At least one area automobile dealer
and some residents recently have suffered from one of the latest twists
in automobile theft.
With car cloning, thieves use vehicle identification numbers, or VINs,
of parked cars and put them on a vehicle of the same model that has been
stolen in another state or country. Thieves get documents that make the
stolen vehicle seem legitimate. Cars are then sold to buyers who are
unaware of the fraud until they try to register the vehicles and learn
there's a duplicate.
Jay Leonard, owner of Preferred Automotive Group in Ft. Wayne, where
Weaver bought her vehicle, first heard of car cloning last week when a
friend who bought a vehicle from him called to say police were on the
way to his house to investigate whether his new Acura MDS was stolen.
"I didn't believe it at first," Leonard said. "They said car cloning is
being done by the Russian mafia out of Quebec, Canada."
Fort Wayne Police Detective Joe Hullinger is investigating the cloning,
which he said is being done outside the country. By the time vehicles
are imported to the United States, the cloning is complete, he said.
"We've seen it before and we know where some of it's coming from," he
said. "Everything is forged to look legitimate."
Often cloning is not immediately caught because of a lack of
communication between states.
For instance, people in New York might not know what's happening in
California. Hullinger said he was unable to provide many details because
of the ongoing investigation.
Leonard said police told him between 5,000 and 6,000 cars had been
cloned in Canada. The vehicles were stolen, duplicate VINs used, and
then the cars were shipped to the United States for sale. Seven vehicles
purchased for sale at Preferred Automotive were stolen with fraudulent
VINs, something the dealership could do little about, Leonard said.
Each of the vehicles purchased by the dealer undergoes a 96-point check
and the CARFAX database is reviewed. CARFAX provides vehicle history
records including information such as odometer readings and whether the
vehicle was a rental car. Leonard said dealers check to make sure the
VIN on the car and the title match, which the numbers do in the instance
of cloning.
Leonard said he's one of about 1,000 dealers who has fallen victim to
cloning of vehicles that tend to be top of the line -- in Leonard's
case, one Acura, two Cadillac Escalades, two Hummers and a Denali. While
there's not a lot that dealerships can do to prevent cloning, Leonard is
doing what he can to make the situation better for his customers.

But Honda and Acura put the VIN number on the glass and other parts of the
car to help prevent car theives from stipping the car and selling off the
parts.
You going to cover up every location of the VIN number? On the glass you
would have to put tape over it on the outside.

--
Tony
my boats and cars at http://t.thomas.home.mchsi.com

-
"N.L. Eckert" wrote in message
...
This is the text of the article in the Free Press in part.
==================================At least one area automobile dealer
and some residents recently have suffered from one of the latest twists
in automobile theft.
With car cloning, thieves use vehicle identification numbers, or VINs,
of parked cars and put them on a vehicle of the same model that has been
stolen in another state or country. Thieves get documents that make the
stolen vehicle seem legitimate. Cars are then sold to buyers who are
unaware of the fraud until they try to register the vehicles and learn
there's a duplicate.
Jay Leonard, owner of Preferred Automotive Group in Ft. Wayne, where
Weaver bought her vehicle, first heard of car cloning last week when a
friend who bought a vehicle from him called to say police were on the
way to his house to investigate whether his new Acura MDS was stolen.
"I didn't believe it at first," Leonard said. "They said car cloning is
being done by the Russian mafia out of Quebec, Canada."
Fort Wayne Police Detective Joe Hullinger is investigating the cloning,
which he said is being done outside the country. By the time vehicles
are imported to the United States, the cloning is complete, he said.
"We've seen it before and we know where some of it's coming from," he
said. "Everything is forged to look legitimate."
Often cloning is not immediately caught because of a lack of
communication between states.
For instance, people in New York might not know what's happening in
California. Hullinger said he was unable to provide many details because
of the ongoing investigation.
Leonard said police told him between 5,000 and 6,000 cars had been
cloned in Canada. The vehicles were stolen, duplicate VINs used, and
then the cars were shipped to the United States for sale. Seven vehicles
purchased for sale at Preferred Automotive were stolen with fraudulent
VINs, something the dealership could do little about, Leonard said.
Each of the vehicles purchased by the dealer undergoes a 96-point check
and the CARFAX database is reviewed. CARFAX provides vehicle history
records including information such as odometer readings and whether the
vehicle was a rental car. Leonard said dealers check to make sure the
VIN on the car and the title match, which the numbers do in the instance
of cloning.
Leonard said he's one of about 1,000 dealers who has fallen victim to
cloning of vehicles that tend to be top of the line -- in Leonard's
case, one Acura, two Cadillac Escalades, two Hummers and a Denali. While
there's not a lot that dealerships can do to prevent cloning, Leonard is
doing what he can to make the situation better for his customers.

But Honda and Acura put the VIN number on the glass and other parts of
the car to help prevent car theives from stipping the car and selling
off the parts.
You going to cover up every location of the VIN number? On the glass you
would have to put tape over it on the outside.
--
Tony
==================================
"Buy American" and you won't have that problem.

Norm