Every vehicle manufactured in Canada has a unique vehicle identification number (VIN) that can be used to track recalls, insurance registration and the history of the respective vehicle. Re-VIN fraud can occur in different ways, including:

Suspected Re-VIN

• A suspected re-VIN is a VIN which has been fraudulently applied to a stolen vehicle and/or re-used on another vehicle; re-VINs can be classified in two ways: cloned or fictitious. A suspected re-VIN has been identified as suspicious/fraudulent but no clarification has been given on whether it is a cloned or fictitious VIN. These VINs should be treated as potentially fraudulent.

VIN Clone

• A valid VIN which has been taken from one vehicle and re-used on another vehicle. True VIN is located/legitimately exported to a different jurisdiction i.e. internationally/out of province, or previously salvaged.

Fictitious VIN

• A fabricated VIN that was never manufactured by the associated manufacturer but can decode properly. VINs are also known as fake or synthetic VINs.

Organized crime networks are looking at stolen vehicles in Canada as a low-risk/high-reward fraud opportunity, regardless if the vehicles are for export or domestic resale. The proceeds are used to finance illegal activities, such as domestic drug trafficking and international terrorism. These crimes hurt communities and put Canada in the spotlight internationally as a source country for illegal trade.

At the request of our member companies or law enforcement, Équité Association’s expert investigators examine suspected stolen, re-VINed vehicles to determine their true identity and assist law enforcement to identify vehicles captured on photo or video surveillance.

Équité continues to work with partners and stakeholders to provide expert vehicle examinations, expertise in insurance crime investigations and to share intelligence and analytics to predict and prevent insurance crimes.

To anonymously report information about insurance crime by phone, please call Crime Stoppers (available 24/7) at 1-800-222-TIPS.

‍