VIN fraud has always been a problem, but it seems criminals are getting better and better at the deception. Some car dealerships have even been burned by scammers, as well as state DMV officers, with the error going unchecked for months on end. Now a car YouTuber has been burned after buying a C7 Corvette Grand Sport for what he thought was an incredible deal.
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That’s one way scammers get you: they offer you such a find that you stop being critical and analytical. It worked on Nic Luna, who runs the YouTube channel Nic Lunatic. He bragged to his followers about getting what he believed to be the cheapest C7 Corvette Grand Sport in the country.
But it was all a ruse. Luna shelled out $35,000 for the American sports car, emptying his savings but elated since that was about $20,000 less than the vehicle normally would sell for.
Luna ran the VIN on the car when he looked at it, running that number through a background check, and thought everything was copacetic. When he signed the paperwork, the VIN on the title, which looked legit because it was, matched what was on the dash and doorjamb.
What Luna didn’t realize is the title was washed, so even though it was a real title the information on it wasn’t accurate.
People are always shocked to learn criminals know how to swap the two VINs everyone checks, on the dash and driver’s doorjamb. What they can’t change are the VINs stamped elsewhere, like on the frame, engine, or wherever it might be located.
You can look up those VIN locations for any vehicle and check the numbers against the VIN tags to help guard against this kind of fraud.
As for Luna, he’s out the car and his $35,000. Once the deception was uncovered, police loaded the C7 Corvette Grand Sport onto a tow truck and that was the end of the saga. Luna has tried tracking down the seller, but the guy is long gone.
Image via NBC DFW/YouTube
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