Used Car Scam Log

Updated 22 October 2026. This edition covers the car fraud cases and scam warnings announced from January to September 2026, and each month is added in the first days of the next. Charges and arrests are allegations, and everyone charged is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

Car fraud cases and warnings so far

From January to September 2026 the log holds 36 announcements from agencies in 18 states and the District of Columbia, plus two national warnings: 14 warnings to the public and 22 enforcement actions in 20 car fraud cases.

Scam type	Warnings	Enforcement actions	Total
VIN cloning	3	6	9
Fake, forged or washed titles	2	5	7
Dealer practices	0	5	5
Fake dealer websites	4	0	4
Fake listings and payment scams	2	2	4
Scams on sellers	2	2	4
Stolen car sold	0	1	1
Odometer fraud	0	1	1
Flood and salvage cars	1	0	1
Curbstoning	0	0	0
All types	14	22	36

March had the most announcements, 9, six of them enforcement actions. The chart and the table count each announcement in the month it was made.

Month	Warnings	Enforcement actions	Total
January 2026	0	1	1
February 2026	3	1	4
March 2026	3	6	9
April 2026	0	4	4
May 2026	2	2	4
June 2026	0	3	3
July 2026	2	1	3
August 2026	3	2	5
September 2026	1	2	3

Pennsylvania had the most announcements, 5, then Texas with 4 and Washington with 3. The map and the table count each announcement once, in the state of the agency or court behind it. The two national warnings, from the FTC and NICB, are not on the map.

Where	Warnings	Enforcement actions	Total
Pennsylvania	0	5	5
Texas	4	0	4
Washington	1	2	3
California	0	2	2
Minnesota	1	1	2
Missouri	0	2	2
New York	1	1	2
North Carolina	0	2	2
Tennessee	2	0	2
Alaska	0	1	1
Colorado	1	0	1
Connecticut	0	1	1
District of Columbia	0	1	1
Florida	1	0	1
Georgia	0	1	1
Kansas	0	1	1
Louisiana	0	1	1
Maine	1	0	1
Wyoming	0	1	1
National	2	0	2

Every announcement, month by month

September 2026

Date	Where	Type	What was announced
8 September	Georgia	Stolen car sold	Two men who pleaded guilty to transporting a stolen vehicle from Texas are sentenced. They had tried to sell it through Facebook Marketplace to a buyer who was an undercover officer. Source: US Attorney, Southern District of Georgia.
5 September	Kansas	Dealer practices	Two buyers from a closed Wichita used car dealer get $20,600 back through the dealer’s bond after a civil suit. One of them never received a title. Source: Hutch Post, on the Sedgwick County District Attorney.
1 September	National	Fake dealer websites	The FTC warns of cloned dealership websites, often made with AI, that take payment up front for cars buyers never receive, sometimes using rare muscle cars and classics as bait. Source: FTC.

August 2026

Date	Where	Type	What was announced
31 August	Minnesota	Dealer practices	A used car dealer and its owner agree to pay $100,000 to settle allegations that it sold used cars as certified when they were not and illegally added service contracts. Source: Minnesota Attorney General.
24 August	Florida	VIN cloning	Deputies seized a stolen SUV with a fraudulent VIN two years after a buyer bought it from a used car dealer. The Sheriff’s Office says re-VINing has grown with online marketplaces. Source: WKMG News 6, quoting the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.
19 August	Connecticut	Dealer practices	Manchester City Nissan agrees to pay $4 million in refunds to settle allegations that it double-charged for certified pre-owned used cars and added charges without consent. Source: FTC and the Connecticut Attorney General.
13 August	Texas	VIN cloning	Two pickups stolen in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, given altered VINs and sold on Facebook Marketplace with counterfeit titles, are seized from San Angelo-area buyers. Source: KTXS, quoting the Tom Green County Sheriff’s Office.
13 August	National	Flood and salvage cars	NICB warns that flood-damaged vehicles frequently return to the market after disasters, sometimes far from the flooding, and that dishonest sellers routinely hide that history. Source: NICB.

July 2026

Date	Where	Type	What was announced
27 July	Colorado	Fake listings and payment scams	Police warn of fake Facebook Marketplace vehicle listings after a buyer lost more than $30,000 for a vehicle that never arrived. Source: KKCO 11, quoting Fruita police.
21 July	Texas	Fake, forged or washed titles	After a rental Camry was sold to a family with a forged title, the constable’s office says fake titles are more common than people realize. Source: KPRC 2, quoting Harris County Constable Precinct 4.
9 July	North Carolina	VIN cloning	The leader of a ring that stole luxury cars from dealerships, replaced their VINs and sold them below market value is sentenced to more than eight years. Source: US Attorney, Western District of North Carolina.

June 2026

Date	Where	Type	What was announced
12 June	Wyoming	Fake, forged or washed titles	A Utah dealer faces 15 felony counts. Investigators allege forged duplicate titles that removed the salvage brands from hail-damaged cars later sold in Utah. Source: Cowboy State Daily, from court records.
8 June	New York	VIN cloning	Thirteen people are charged with selling about 100 cars stolen in New York City, with fake VINs, swapped labels and fraudulent titles, to unsuspecting buyers. Source: US Attorney, Southern District of New York.
3 June	Pennsylvania	Fake listings and payment scams	A used car salesman is sentenced to 41 months for taking payment for more than 100 wheelchair-accessible vehicles he never delivered. Source: US Attorney, Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

May 2026

Date	Where	Type	What was announced
29 May	Pennsylvania	VIN cloning	The man prosecutors identify as the ringleader of a crew charged over about 50 stolen vehicles, given VINs from decommissioned vehicles and resold, is captured. Ten people are charged. Source: Pennsylvania Attorney General.
22 May	Texas	Fake, forged or washed titles	The sheriff warns online buyers of fraudulent titles, VIN tampering, title jumping and stolen vehicles sold on Facebook Marketplace and similar sites. Source: KWHI, quoting the Lee County Sheriff’s Office.
5 May	Washington	Scams on sellers	Detectives warn sellers about buyers who secretly put oil on the engine and say they have identified at least 26 victims in the region. Source: KIRO 7, quoting the Grays Harbor County Sheriff’s Office and a regional auto theft task force.
5 May	California	Scams on sellers	Three men are arrested on suspicion of an oil in the engine scheme against car sellers in eight California counties. Source: KTVN 2News, on the Placer County Sheriff’s Office.

April 2026

Date	Where	Type	What was announced
22 April	District of Columbia	VIN cloning	Six people are charged with stealing at least 20 cars by reprogramming key fobs, swapping plates and obscuring VINs, and selling them to buyers in the United States and Ghana. One is a fugitive. Source: US Attorney for the District of Columbia.
19 April	Missouri	Fake, forged or washed titles	The Kansas City Marketplace seller charged in January pleads guilty to six counts of tampering and eight of forgery and is sentenced to four years. Source: FOX4 Kansas City, from court records.
13 April	Pennsylvania	VIN cloning	Nine people are charged over at least 50 stolen vehicles that, according to the criminal complaint, were given inactive VINs and falsified out-of-state titles and sold at low prices to buyers who did not know they were stolen. Source: NBC10 Philadelphia, from the criminal complaint and state police.
5 April	Washington	Scams on sellers	Three people are arrested after, the Sheriff’s Office says, they were found running an oil in the engine scheme on Facebook Marketplace sellers. Deputies seized $57,000 in cash and more than 20 car titles. Source: KIRO 7, on the Grays Harbor County Sheriff’s Office.

March 2026

Date	Where	Type	What was announced
25 March	California	Dealer practices	CarMax’s California dealerships pay $1.1 million to settle allegations that they missed the 30-day deadline to transfer used cars’ registration and ownership, without admitting them. Source: Riverside County District Attorney, with five other district attorneys.
25 March	North Carolina	VIN cloning	Two men are sentenced over a ring that stole luxury vehicles and altered their VINs. One of them possessed or knew of at least 31 stolen vehicles worth more than $2 million. Source: US Attorney, Western District of North Carolina.
24 March	Alaska	Dealer practices	Swickard dealerships agree to an $800,000 penalty over allegations of advertising unavailable cars and undisclosed add-ons. The court found missing condition statements on used cars bought from consumers. Source: Alaska Attorney General.
19 March	Louisiana	Fake, forged or washed titles	Police seek a man on a warrant over stolen cars sold on Facebook Marketplace. Two buyers say they got a fictitious bill of sale and Texas title documents. Source: KTAL, on the Shreveport Police Department.
19 March	Washington	Odometer fraud	An Othello man convicted of odometer tampering in at least 21 cars, using odometers from wrecking yards, is sentenced to 15 months. Source: US Attorney, Eastern District of Washington.
18 March	Tennessee	Fake dealer websites	The Attorney General warns of websites posing as classic car and heavy equipment dealers, with fake business licenses and very low prices. Source: Tennessee Attorney General.
16 March	Pennsylvania	Fake, forged or washed titles	An authorized tag agent in Philadelphia is charged with submitting falsified paperwork for 65 stolen vehicles worth more than $3.8 million. Source: Pennsylvania Attorney General.
12 March	Maine	Fake dealer websites	Police warn that an online classic car dealer using a Veazie warehouse address has no cars and no dealer license. At least one buyer paid. Source: Bangor Daily News, quoting Veazie police.
3 March	Tennessee	Scams on sellers	Facebook Marketplace sellers are warned about buyers who pay with a fake cashier’s check or a wire that is later recalled, then keep the car. Source: Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance.

February 2026

Date	Where	Type	What was announced
27 February	New York	Fake listings and payment scams	The sheriff warns about online used car sales fraud after a car was sold with an active lien that was not disclosed. Source: WHEC, quoting the Ontario County Sheriff’s Office.
18 February	Pennsylvania	Fake listings and payment scams	Police issue an arrest warrant for a man they say used fake websites, shell companies and AI-generated images to sell a 1969 Camaro. The buyer wired $34,000. Source: 6abc, quoting Lower Southampton police.
11 February	Minnesota	VIN cloning	The State Patrol describes how stolen cars get a VIN copied from a similar make, model and year and are sold with forged documents. Source: Minnesota State Patrol.
4 February	Texas	Fake dealer websites	Police investigate a website selling more than 40 high-end cars under the address of a shuttered Boerne dealership. Out-of-town buyers lost nearly $40,000. Source: Boerne Star, on Boerne police.

January 2026

Date	Where	Type	What was announced
20 January	Missouri	Fake, forged or washed titles	A Kansas City man is charged with selling cars on Facebook Marketplace under an alias, with what appeared to be a valid title and bill of sale, then taking them back. Source: Jackson County Prosecutor.

How the log is made

Each month we read the Justice Department’s press releases through its press release API, searching their titles for words such as odometer, VIN, title, stolen vehicle, used car and car dealer, and the FTC’s consumer alerts and press releases. For NICB, state attorneys general, motor vehicle agencies, state police, sheriffs, police departments, prosecutors and courts, we run a fixed set of web searches for each type of scam below and read each result on the agency’s own site where it can be read.

A row is one public announcement: a warning to the public about a scam on people buying or selling a used car, or an enforcement action, meaning a step in a case such as an arrest, charges, a plea, a verdict, a sentence, a lawsuit, or a settlement or court order. A news report counts when it carries an agency’s statement or reports a court record, and the row names the agency and links the report. An announcement made jointly by several agencies on the same day is one row, and a charge, a plea and a sentence in one case are separate rows.

We leave out vehicle theft and carjacking with no sale to a buyer, loan and insurance fraud, warranty calls, toll and text message scams, trailers and farm equipment, procedural filings and hearings, refunds paid under a settlement announced earlier, dismissals, and dealer cases whose announcement does not name used vehicles.

The log counts what agencies announced and what our searches found. It is not a count of scams: most victims never report, many local warnings appear only on social media, and one case can produce several announcements. Each row has one of these types:

• VIN cloning: a stolen vehicle given the VIN of a legal one, or an altered VIN, and resold.
• Fake, forged or washed titles: forged or counterfeit titles, fraudulent title applications, title jumping, and titles that lose a salvage or flood brand.
• Stolen car sold: a stolen vehicle sold or offered for sale with no VIN or title method named.
• Curbstoning: dealing in cars without a license while posing as a private seller.
• Fake listings and payment scams: listings that misrepresent a car or hide a lien, listings for cars that do not exist or are never delivered, and payment scams on buyers.
• Fake dealer websites: cloned, spoofed or invented dealership websites.
• Scams on sellers: the oil in the engine scam, fake payments and overpayment.
• Dealer practices: a dealer’s fees, add-ons, pricing, advertising and title paperwork in sales to used car buyers.
• Odometer fraud: rollbacks, odometer swaps and false mileage.
• Flood and salvage cars: hidden flood or salvage damage.

Download and cite

The whole log of car fraud cases and warnings is in a CSV file, one row per announcement with its date, state, type, kind of announcement, agency and source: used-car-scam-log-2026-09.csv. Cite it as: VINvestigators, Used Car Scam Log, updated 22 October 2026, https://vinvestigators.com/car-fraud-cases/.

How each of these scams works, and the checks that stop it, is in our guide to car scams to look out for. The yearly figures on thefts, recalls and complaints are on our used car statistics page.