Investigators see ‘serious spike’ in stolen cars being sold to unsuspecting buyers

Tarrant County officials are reporting a “major spike” in sales of stolen vehicles to unsuspecting buyers.

Tarrant County Sheriff Bill Wayborn said many of the affected vehicles belong to General Motors.

“Specifically the GMC pickup and the Silverado pickup. I think the GMC is the Sierra pickup,” Wayborn said. “Unfortunately, our victims come to the tax office and find that the car has been stolen. What they see is that the VIN has been changed. The documents are fictitious, but the seller appears with the keys, titles, bill of sale. It all looks very, very legal.”

Many sales are made online, Waybourn said. Buyers will see the car for sale and then meet the sellers at locations that are not tied specifically to residential or work addresses. The buyer will not realize that the car is stolen until they attempt to transfer ownership at the local tax office or DMV, by which time the seller will have disabled the phone number used during the sale.

“We don’t want another person to lose their savings because they thought they were getting a lot,” Wayborn said.

Jorge Zuniga was in the same situation four months ago. Zuniga spotted a 2020 BMW up for sale online for $23,000. He drove to Dallas to meet the seller and later bought it. When he tried to transfer ownership a few days later, he was told the car had been stolen.

“I felt like cold water fell on me,” Zuniga told Telemundo 39.

Zuniga added that he now trusts online advertising less and will do more research before making a purchase.

Investigators recommend that buyers, if possible, use the services of a reputable car dealership. David Laugs, general manager of ADL Auto in Fort Worth, said there are processes in place to ensure every step is legal.

“For a dealership in Texas, if we have a car but no title…we legally cannot sell it. We need to wait until the title is over,” Laugs said.

He recommended that buyers who prefer to buy from individual sellers make sure the seller’s name matches the title and ask for a copy of the license.

“Go straight to the DMV and make sure the title is in that person’s name,” he said. “You can use common sense as much as you want. But if someone wants to hurt you, he can. There is no doubt about that.”

Wayborn said that if buyers decide to purchase the car somewhere other than the dealership, they should make arrangements to meet in safe areas such as the police department.

“Vehicles reported stolen are still a long connection between this and the bad guy. But we are going to absolutely cooperate with other agencies. I am very confident that we will catch the bad guys,” he said.

Content Source

Dallas Press News – Latest News:
Dallas Local News || Fort Worth Local News | Texas State News || Crime and Safety News || National news || Business News || Health News

Related Articles

Back to top button