Report: Arizona Vehicle Thefts Fall 21%, But Fraud Schemes May Mask Losses

Reported vehicle thefts in Arizona fell 21% through the third quarter from the same period a year ago, but that good news was tempered by the finding that some schemes involving fraudulently obtained vehicles are going uncounted. According to data from the Arizona Automobile Theft Authority, the decline in thefts follows a year in which Arizona recorded its fewest reported vehicle thefts since the authority’s inception in 1992. The authority reported that as technology makes newer vehicles harder to steal, organized criminals are using fake or stolen identities to finance or lease vehicles, then creating fake paperwork to conceal liens before selling the vehicles to buyers. The schemes often involve out-of-state titles and occur before lenders discover the fraud, according to the authority. Related: Report: Arizona Vehicle Thefts Continued to Decline in First Half of Year Because some law enforcement agencies treat these organized scams as civil matters, the vehicles are not reported as stolen in the National Crime Information Center database, the authority said. A recent example comes from a local car dealer, which alerted the Arizona Department of Public Safety’s Vehicle Theft Task Force to someone trying to sell vehicles with potentially fraudulent titles. Investigators identified six vehicles valued at more than $750,000. All six had titles altered to conceal liens and were linked to fraudulent purchases tied to a foreign criminal organization, according to the authority. The authority reported that criminal organizations in Arizona and nationwide are targeting higher-value vehicles through fraud rather than stealing larger numbers of lower-value vehicles. The vehicles are often resold to unsuspecting buyers or taken out of the country. Topics Fraud Auto Profit Loss Was this article valuable? Thank you! Please tell us what we can do to improve this article. Thank you! % of people found this article valuable. Please tell us what you liked about it. Here are more articles you may enjoy.