Grand Theft Auto goes high-tech in the digital age

John McElroy — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 18:30:00 EST

Filed under: Etc., Government/Legal, Technology

Modern Car Thieves Outsmart The Law By Cloning

Car thieves are adopting depressingly creative ways to clone cars.

When it comes to car theft, the good news is that law enforcement has become so good that theft rates have dropped for a decade. The bad news is that this is forcing car thieves to become far more clever and daring than they ever were in the past.

Not long ago, chop shops were the favorite fence for car thieves. They'd drop off a stolen vehicle where it would get "chopped" into its most lucrative parts and sold off for big profits. But today, chop shops are practically passé. Now car thieves find it faster, safer and more profitable to "clone" a car.

Cloning is not a new practice, but it's becoming more and more popular. It involves stealing a car, then creating a new title and VIN for it, but doing it in a way that makes it very difficult for law enforcement to track. And car thieves are adopting depressingly creative ways to clone cars.

John McElroy is host of the TV program "Autoline Detroit" and daily web video "Autoline Daily". Every month he brings his unique insights as a Detroit insider to Autoblog readers.

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Grand Theft Auto goes high-tech in the digital age originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 29 Sep 2011 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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BUSTED! Canada's largest chop shop caught with 700 stolen cars

Chris Shunk — Thu, 03 May 2007 08:29:00 EST

Filed under: Etc., Government/Legal

For years, gearheads have made some extra coin buying junk cars like Mustangs and Chevelles, taking them apart, then selling their still-working parts on resale sites like eBay. This is also what happens in chop houses around the globe, except instead of buying junkers, they simply steal very valuable vehicles, then remove brake rotors, tires, engines, transmissions, airbags, and anything else that can be sold on the black market. Canadian police found themselves the mother lode of all chop shops, and the sheer volume of cars found on the grounds of the 100,000 sq. ft. location was simply staggering.

The scrap yard, just north of Montreal, was littered with luxury SUVs, Jaguars, Mercedes Benz, and other high-end vehicles that were being hocked for their valuable parts. Some of the cars were brand-new, with zero miles on the odometer, and others were stacked one on top of another. Needless to say, the 39 year-old owner of the shifty operation has been detained, and jail time looks like a foregone conclusion due to the overwhelming amount of evidence.

The Canadian police deserve a ton of credit for uncovering this operation, but we wonder why it took "years" to discover and investigate a scrap yard with 700 new cars and luxury SUVs that looks as if it could have been found by playing with Google Earth. The bottom picture is an aerial photo of the crime scene. Amazing!

Thanks for the tip, Derek!

[Source: ctv.ca.]

BUSTED! Canada's largest chop shop caught with 700 stolen cars originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 03 May 2007 08:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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