Online Purchase of Stolen Vehicles Spike

EAST TEXAS — The Tyler Police Department is warning citizens of an online scam involving the purchase of stolen vehicles. Authorities said the East Texas Auto Theft Task Force has seen an increase of cases involving shoppers buying stolen vehicles through online apps and websites. They said in the past year, the task force has recovered around eight stolen vehicles in Tyler alone. Officials said in all the cases they’ve investigated, the price of the vehicle was much less than the actual blue book value of the vehicle. Officers warn potential buyers, if someone is selling a vehicle for much less than its value, it’s probably too good to be true.

In some cases the VIN’s were changed to make the vehicles appear to be legitimate. In most cases the VIN’s were not changed and the seller presented a title that was altered to make it appear it belonged to the vehicle being sold.

In all cases investigated by the Auto Theft Task Force, the stolen vehicles were seized by law enforcement and by a Judge’s order returned to the person they were stolen from, leaving the citizen in Tyler without a vehicle and the loss of the money they paid for the vehicle. Sometimes over $10,000 dollars.

For more information, go to http://www.dmv.org/buy-sell/