For dealers, inspectors, investigators, and the regulars on r/VINvestigators who already know the basics. This path is about patterns, evidence and obligations: what’s active now, what the prosecutions reveal about how schemes run, what the numbers say, and what the law requires of you.
1. What fraud patterns are active right now, and where?
Used Car Scam Log: car fraud cases and scam warnings from US agencies, logged month by month since January 2026, with a count by state, each one linked to its source. For one pattern in depth, How to Spot a Curbstoner Before You Hand Over Cash covers unlicensed dealers posing as private sellers, a pattern that leaves buyers without the Buyers Guide, the dealer’s disclosure duties or the dealer bond.
2. What do recent prosecutions and busts show about how these schemes run?
The Tag Agent Charged With Washing 65 Stolen Luxury Cars: case studies built from charging documents and enforcement actions: who is accused of what, how the scheme was structured, and how it was caught.
3. What do the numbers say about theft, recalls and complaints, and what does nobody count?
Used Car Statistics 2026, Car Complaints Rank First for the Tenth Year: NICB, NHTSA, FBI and state attorney general figures compiled once a year, by state where the data exists, with the numbers nobody publishes named as such. A new edition every October.
4. What are the disclosure and record-keeping obligations in a given state?
State Guides: one guide per state, with the dealer’s disclosure duties, the title brands, the odometer and lemon law rules, the local scams and where to complain. Start from the map on the State Guides page.
5. How does VIN cloning work end to end, and how is it caught?
Coming soon. From a stolen car and a donor VIN to a clean-looking registration, and the checks that break the chain.
6. Where do I report suspected fraud and what evidence is needed?
Coming soon. The right agency for each type of fraud, what to document before you report, and what happens after you do.
Seen something we should investigate? Post it on r/VINvestigators or send us a tip.