[Steppes] A new wrinkle in car theft

[Stacy E. Dickey]

I had to take my VIN number to a dealership before, after a night on the 
town plus one lost truck key. But they were *very* insistant in proof of 
ownership. No proof, no key.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Joe Horton" <jrhlotto at hotmail.com>
To: <steppes at ansteorra.org>; <GRAYWOOD-L at TITAN.SFASU.EDU>
Sent: Friday, February 11, 2005 10:06 AM
Subject: [Steppes] A new wrinkle in car theft


> Got this from a relative, don't know how accurate it is, but its just dumb 
> enough it could be true.
>
> Iosef of Graeywood
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Subject: How car thieves get your VIN!!!
>
>
> Seems that car thieves have found yet another way to steal your car or 
> truck
> without any effort at all...
>
> The car thieves peer through the windshield of your car or truck, write 
> down the VIN  from the label on the dash, go to the local car dealership 
> and request a duplicate key based on the VIN.
>
> The feller who sent this message to me said he didn't believe this e-mail 
> when he got it, so he called his Chrysler / Dodge Dealership and pretended 
> he had lost his keys.  They told him to just bring in the VIN, and they 
> would cut one on the
> spot, and he could order the keyless device if he wanted.  The Car 
> Dealer's Parts Department will make a duplicate key from the VIN, and 
> collect payment from the thief who will return to pick up your car.  He 
> doesn't have to break in, do any damage to the vehicle, or draw attention 
> to himself.  All he has to do is walk up to your car, insert the key and 
> off he goes to a local Chop Shop with your vehicle.  It IS that easy.
>
> To avoid this from happening to you, simply put cover the VIN Metal Label 
> located on the dash board.  By law, you cannot remove the VIN, but you can 
> cover it so it can't be viewed through the windshield by a car thief.
>
> I slipped a 3 x 5 card over the VIN on both our cars.
>
> You might want to pass this on...  it looks like GOOD INFO!!!