What’s hot is hot.
Such as hot performance cars that fraudsters wrangle from auto dealers through loans obtained under false pretenses.
Many of the schemers go for muscle cars, says Frank McKenna, chief anti-fraud strategist for Point Predictive, a technology firm that red-flags wrongdoers eyeing dealership inventory.
“The Dodge Challenger and Dodge Charger are really favored,” he says of two sporty cars on thieves’ wish lists. “They tend to like muscle cars.”
Some scammers go for luxury vehicles. “Land Rovers and Mercedes-Benzes are popular,” McKenna (pictured, below left) tells Wards. “But surprisingly, ordinary cars, such as the Toyota Camry, are targets, too.”
Point Predictive uses artificial intelligence and data analytics to help lender clients avoid being duped by shady characters supplying false credit-application information, from forged pay stubs to fake identities to phony places of employment.
Sometimes offenders act individually, fudging loan application numbers to attain personal vehicle ownership. Other times they belong to crime cabals “that go state to state getting luxury cars,” many of which end up shipped overseas, McKenna says.
Some garden-variety deceivers are aided and abetted by disreputable dealership finance managers who do whatever to close a deal. That’s rare today. “Most dealers are honest,” McKenna says. “Only 3% have fraud risks we’ve detected.”
Point…
