Heart of Texas Auto Theft Task Force helps identify stolen cars in Central Texas

WACO, Texas (KWTX) – Texas is one of the leading states in auto thefts, and according to the Heart of Texas Auto Theft Task Force, vehicle identification number (VIN) swapping is a growing issue that’s now spreading to Central Texas.

Just this week, investigators with the task force, along with the McLennan County Sheriff’s Office, Waco Police Department, and the National Insurance Crime Bureau, recovered five stolen pickup trucks in Waco with swapped vin numbers.

Auto Theft Task Force Captain Howard Stinehour told KWTX this is more common than people might think, explaining that “every week we’re here, we get a stolen vehicle.”

Whenever the DMV comes across a car title they can’t verify, that car gets sent to a local task force to confirm that all of its identification is correct

“If it’s a used vehicle coming from out of state, Texas wants the vehicle verified,” Captain Stinehour explained. “Or there’s a signature problem on the back of the where family members have passed on and someone’s selling the car without a title – they can’t find the title so they’ll say bring it here.”

The task force helps identify the problem, resolves ownership issues and then “creates a new title and start over.”

And so, every Wednesday the task force is out in Waco checking lines of vehicles.

Normally, they just confirm the car’s identification and send them on their way, but sometimes they discover that a person’s car was actually stolen and then sold to them.

“The crooks now are changing the identity of the vehicles. They’re creating new labels, they’re creating all new vehicle identities,” Captain Stinehour said, “They’ll create fraudulent documents, titles, registration, sales receipts – everything’s fake. They’ll give that to the unsuspecting buyer.”

According to Geoff Aycock with the National Insurance Crime Bureau, what investigators most often encounter with stolen cars is vin swapping.

“There’s vehicles that have had their public vin plates removed and a different vin put on it to assume the identity of another vehicle… that’s the most common,” Aycock said.

Captain Stinehour shared that, “everything looks legit. They’ll run it, it comes back to the same make and model car.”

That way criminals are able to sell the stolen car online though sites like Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist.

“Social media is enticing these folks to go on there, buy a vehicle that’s too good to be true,” he said.

Captain Steinhour also explained that because this has become such a big issue across the state, they’re now seeing cars from “as far as Denton, Plano, Frisco, all the way back around.”

And while they’re doing their best to stay ahead of the thieves, they ask people to make sure they’re being smart when buying a car.

“I just tell everybody to use all of their efforts to verify what they’re doing,” Aycock said.

They explained that the biggest sign a vehicle has been stolen is if you see a high end car being sold online for a great price.

If you have any suspicion that the car you’re trying to buy might be stolen, they recommend calling local law enforcement or reaching out to the Auto Theft Task Force in your area.