In Irkutsk region, experts explained how to spot cars with altered numbers and avoid fraud. They cited a stolen Camry found with a new owner and other cases of forged markings, from erased digits to replaced numbered panels.
Bought by an Italian, but sold to an Irkutsk resident. In 2015, specialists from the Forensic Center of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for the Irkutsk Region conducted about 600 examinations of motor vehicles; in 200 cases, signs of alteration of the original unit data were found. Most of the information was restored by the experts.How to recognize tampered numbers and avoid falling into the hands of fraudsters.
A black Camry was stolen in Irkutsk last year. It was detained only last week. The new owner was stopped at a checkpoint in the Slyudyansky District. During inspection, it became clear—the numbers had been tampered with.
— This vehicle was inspected on site and seized by our officers for further return to its owner, says investigator of the police department for the Irkutsk District Yevgenia Grushko.
On some, as, for example, on this Volvo, the “5” was erased and a “6” was written in its place.
— Here the identification numbers were altered by cutting out the entire panel with the original marking and replacing it with a secondary one.
— From another car?
— Yes, from a donor vehicle. From a wrecked car. This can be seen like this.
— When buying, you need to carefully inspect the car. Make sure it matches the model, year of manufacture, and trim level, and that all duplicate plates are in place. Make sure there are no paint layers applied in a makeshift way in the area of the body number and the marked panel, says Viktor Lanshakov, head of the department of automotive technical examinations at the Forensic Center of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Irkutsk Region.
And most importantly—register the car in the presence of a traffic police officer and after checking the vehicle’s history through the computer database.