VIN# (On Your Car)

Original Post: 20 November 2012
Posted Here: 2 December 2017

Friends occasionally forward warning messages that someone else has forwarded to them. I wish that they wouldn't, because I tend to fear that there might be a virus or something included in the forwarded message. Usually, these emails warn of some impending disaster that can be prevented easily by taking their advice.

I received one recently that I thought might interest you. The subject line read: VIN# (On Your Car). I was warned that car thieves could easily steal my car by looking in the front window, copying down my car's VIN number, then going to a dealership to obtain a replacement key so that they could just come back and drive my car away. The cure was to hide the VIN# with electrical tape or an index card. I was assured that snopes.com "says that this is true".

Actually, snopes.com says a bit more, including that "the scheme doesn't necessarily pose a threat to the average car owner" and "In some jurisdictions, it is against the law to obscure a car's VIN".

You might like to read the entire Snopes discussion about this topic.

Keep reading/keep writing - Jack