Cracking the clone: A new era of auto fraud

This article was created in partnership with CARFAX Canada.

As auto insurance fraud in Canada becomes more complex, a new threat has emerged: stolen vehicles with cloned VINs are now staying within Canadian borders. In the past, stolen vehicles were often quickly exported through shipping ports; however, as the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) enhances its scrutiny at these exit points, fraudsters are adapting their tactics.

Instead of shipping stolen vehicles overseas, these vehicles are being reVINed, a process that uses a clean VIN or alters the VIN to disguise a stolen vehicle's identity, allowing criminals to reintroduce them within the Canadian marketplace. Through this process, both the cloned VIN and the donor VIN become simultaneously active in the system.

The result is a g