Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Auto theft scam uses consumer protection to get keys

From: [email-masked]
Date: Tue, 28 Oct 2003 18:08:25 -0500

Auto theft scam uses consumer protection to get keys

Last Updated Tue, 28 Oct 2003 13:03:40
TORONTO - Car thieves are taking advantage of a service that was meant
to protect car buyers. Police say thieves in Ontario are legally getting
reports on used vehicles to acquire keys for cars they've pre-selected.

Police say thieves have had to adapt as car companies install more
sophisticated anti-theft devices in their new cars. Many cars now won't
start without new keys that come with a special chip called an
immobilizer.

Thieves are going after
older cars or driving off
with your car after
getting at the keys.

It happened to Howard
Lerner of Toronto. It
took him months to
figure out how his Audi
was driven out of his
regular parking spot in
an underground garage.

All the thieves needed
was his license plate
number.

They then headed to a self-serve kiosk set up by the Ontario government.
For a fee, they were able to pick up a used vehicle registration
package, even though Lerner's car wasn't for sale.

The package is designed to protect buyers of used cars.  It's meant to
allow people to check on the history of a car, to avoid liens or even to
know if the car they're thinking of buying has ever been reported
stolen.

Armed with Lerner's data, the thief got an original copy of his car
ownership, then got a real driver's license, with the thief's picture
and Lerner's name on it. With that, the thief walked into an Audi
dealership. He said he had lost his key and needed a new one. The
dealership provided the key and the thief drove off with the car.

York Region police detective Bill Goetz says the thieves ran the scam
like a business, the most sophisticated he's seen.
"We found 123 different sets of keys," Goetz said. "Our approximate
value on it was between four and six million dollars."
One of the cars stolen was Lerner's. The police eventually arrested two
men and laid 55 fraud-related charges. One of the men served 18 months
in jail. The other was deported.

When CBC News told the Ontario Ministry of Transport how the information
has been used to steal dozens of cars, they said they'd check into it.

In Toronto, four out of ten car thefts last year were cases where the
thieves simply took the keys - either through fake ID or by breaking
into houses and grabbing them.
http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2003/10/27/Consumers/keytheft031027
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