VIN Cloning Scams: What Car Buyers Need to Know

The Perfect Scam

AARP

True Crime, Aarp, Fraud, Society & Culture, Scam, Crime, Bobsullivan

4.5 • 980 Ratings

🗓️ 18 July 2025

⏱️ 44 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

John is in the market for a pickup truck when he comes across a Facebook Marketplace ad for a 2021 Dodge Ram. It needs a little TLC, but it’s a reasonable price, and he’s had luck buying used cars online before. He does his research by checking the VIN on multiple sites, consulting friends in the auto business, and even taking a mechanic friend with him to pick up the truck. So, a couple of weeks later, when he finds himself in his new truck suddenly surrounded by police cars, he is shocked to learn that the vehicle is stolen, and he is the victim of a sophisticated VIN cloning scam.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	This week on The Perfect Scam.
0:05.0	I checked three different VIN sites just to make sure, and every one of them came up, you know, 99% good.
0:14.0	I just walked to him so what's going on.
0:16.0	And what did they tell you?
0:18.0	Yeah, we're not saying it's this truck, but there's another truck
0:22.3	with the exact Venn number on it. And one of the two is bad.
0:33.0	Welcome back to the perfect scam. I'm your host, Bob Sullivan.
0:42.8	Imagine pulling up to a doctor's appointment on a typical morning and suddenly being surrounded by police cars, blocking you in so you can't drive away.
0:48.6	And you have no idea what they want.
0:52.0	That's how we're going to begin today's story in a parking lot
0:55.7	just outside Cincinnati, Ohio, with flashing lights bathing John Turco and his new pickup truck.
1:04.1	I had a doctor's appointment at 8 o'clock on Thursday morning, and that's when I... I was actually on the phone with my neighbor.
1:13.8	I was checking on her husband.
1:15.1	He wasn't feeling.
1:15.8	Well, she's actually a cop around here.
1:18.8	And he was a detective.
1:20.3	And I was talking to her.
1:22.1	And I was like, wow, there just went three cops flying.
1:25.3	But I wonder what they're looking for.
1:26.7	And she was joking.
1:27.4	She said, yeah, it's probably you.
1:28.5	So I wouldn't doubt it.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from AARP, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of AARP and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.