By Steven Symes 
Sadly, most people think of tow truck drivers scamming people, not getting scammed, but we’ve seen a recent uptick in the latter. One of the latest examples comes out of Charlotte, North Carolina where thieves tricked a tow truck operator into taking a 2023 Chevy Suburban from a dealership, delivering it to them.
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Just like with any scam, there were signs that in hindsight indicated the tow truck driver was getting scammed. One of them he told to WSOCTV9 was that the person who ordered the tow instructed the operator to drop the Suburban off in a Goodwill parking lot, hiding the keys behind the gas door.
Nobody who really cares about a vehicle they just paid good money for would do something like that. In fact, we’re sure they’d be eagerly waiting to take delivery in person.
Like in so many of these scam situations, the thieves got wind of a pricey ride that was purchased from one dealer and being transported to another. But it’s believed the thieves hacked into the system used by tow companies to bid on such jobs.
That’s how they hired the one tow truck driver to take the Chevy from the one dealership and drop it off in a random parking lot a few miles away. It was supposed to go across state lines to South Carolina.
We’ve seen this sort of thing done, but where the thieves hack into a transport company’s system as the vehicle is in transit, changing the delivery instructions. Or, getting the tow truck driver’s info and sending a text, instructing them there’s been a change in the delivery location.
In other words, thieves are becoming more sophisticated in their methods of stealing from dealerships. They’re not just breaking glass and swiping keys, they’re hacking into computer systems and tricking hardworking people into doing the dirty work for them.
Image via WSOCTV9/YouTube