PSA: Car Cloning Modus Operandi

PUBLIC SERVICE CASE STUDIES:

Below, an E-mail from a Fan of my Blog, Mr.C:

"Hi, I am no sure if you can help me but i am going to tell my story to you.

A friends of my bro said he is able to bring in Singapore car and register in Malaysia as legal car, which i believe this is not possible under legal way..

he manage to pursuit my bro to buy a Subaru Impreza WRX 2.0 for RM70K.

He said he is able to come out with the document to make this car legal.

1st he asked 20K from my bro for down payment in order to get the car out from port.

he collected 20K from my bro and my bro got the car with "temp" plate no and Green Card / Grant.


initially they asked my bro to apply for car loan to settle the remaining 50K and he will proceed with the Legal Document and Car Plate no but my bro refuse to apply loan and wish to pay in cash.

so he collected another 5K to kick start the legalizing the document.

1st 5K is for AP
2nd 10K for "JPJ" to change the engine no to malaysia engine no and legal car plate
3rd another 10K to create legal Green Card or Grant
4th 10k to settle the remaining document which he haven't mention.

is this possible? or my bro been cheated?"


Jefferson Lim's Reply:  

Your brother is cheated.  The Scammer is "Cloning" an existing Subaru WRX car.  Yes, this process is called "CAR CLONING". 

Here's an article regarding this case...  SOURCE: New Straits Times 26 October 2014.

Cops bust car ‘cloning’ syndicate

26 OCTOBER 2014 @ 8:08 AM

KUALA LUMPUR: Police broke a car theft ring specialising in “cloning” vehicles after they nabbed 12 men and seized 12 cars worth RM1.3 million recently.

Among those arrested were six motorists, including a school teacher, who bought the stolen cars after being offered very low prices by the syndicate.

Sentul police chief Assistant Commissioner R. Munusamy said the suspects aged between 20 and 50 were arrested at several locations in Tanjong Karang, Kajang and Cheras in Selangor during a series of operations between Oct 14 and Friday.

Among the recovered vehicles were Toyota Alphard, Toyota Estima, Toyota Fortuner, Honda City, and Toyota Vellfire, which were reported stolen in Selangor, Perak, Pahang and here.

He said the syndicate cloned the vehicles after acquiring details, including registration, engine and chassis numbers, of legitimate cars of the same models and colours.

“It was a tactic to avoid the authorities and buyers’ detection, as the stolen cars would then have the cloned details installed on them.

“The syndicate members would then send images of the cloned cars to their friends and offered prices that were very low compared to the market values. The price cut was offered on the pretext that the cars were taken from owners who failed to settle their bank loans or imported from Singapore,” he said here yesterday.

He said buyers were given counterfeit car grants and road tax stickers which made the vehicles they bought appear legitimate.

The prices offered were said to be so attractive that the syndicate managed to easily lure buyers.

It is learnt that a cloned Toyota Vellfire was sold to the teacher for only RM60,000, compared with the model’s market value of around RM200,000.

Munusamy said the syndicate members had the expertise and equipment to print counterfeit road tax stickers which were of similar quality to those issued by the Road Transport Department (RTD).

“The buyers are also being detained to facilitate investigations as they bought stolen property which is a criminal offence. I would like to advise the public to be aware when being offered vehicles for very low prices, as these kind of offers were usually given for cars which were either stolen or evaded tax.”

A source close to the investigations said police were looking into the possibility that the syndicate had help inside the RTD.

Investigators believed that this was the case as the syndicate could easily acquire specific information on cars which they wanted to clone, including chassis and grants details.

END OF SOURCE...

Hope this Public Service announcement (PSA) helps.  That's all folks, thanks for having the time and patience to read this blog entry.

ARTICLE: Fears over 'tsunami cars' landing in Malaysia

Fears over 'tsunami cars' landing in Malaysia

Some of the thousands of damaged cars lined up on a street in Sendai as part of a clean-up operation after the earthquake and tsunami. — NST picture by Sairien Nafis 

 

MALAYSIAN car fans, it seems, are eager to know about the fate of the many damaged cars found scattered in the main areas hit by the recent earthquake and tsunami here. There is now a fear that such vehicles, now commonly called "tsunami Cars", or their parts will make it to Malaysian shores through unofficial or grey market channels.

A check by the New Sunday Times yesterday revealed that the Japanese authorities had been lining up the damaged cars and also new cars affected by the disaster in the main areas of Fukushima, Iwate, Ibaraki and also Sendai.

Most of the cars, with models sold independently in Malaysia, are from established Japanese car makers such as Honda, Mitsubishi, Suzuki and Toyota.
However, the most common are the popular model variants by Mitsubishi, Toyota and Daihatsu which share a common platform with our local Proton and Perodua cars.

The models range from parts that are compatible with our Proton Wira and Juara to Perodua Kancil, Kenari, Kembara, Myvi and also the recent Viva. According to Japanese car enthusiast K. Kanagawa, most of the cars would be sent to be scrapped as their metal content was considered valuable to the domestic Japanese steel industry.

"However, during the process many will not know what happens to the parts, such as usable engine parts and panels," he said through a translator.

Kanagawa, who is also well-versed with the Japanese export market for parts to Southeast Asian countries, said that there were still thousands of vehicles in good condition with only minor damage not accounted for after the earthquake and tsunami on March 11.

Nevertheless, he said a majority of cars sold in the used car auctions in Japan were sold outside of the affected areas and were mainly concentrated at Osaka (Kobe), Nagoya and Tokyo..

Osaka and Nagoya were not affected at all by the earthquake or by the tsunami. Cars and vehicles stored in the ports were unaffected.

However, Kanagawa is not dismissing the possibility that some exporters will jump at this opportunity to buy any post-tsunami vehicles cheap and then sell them off as "good stock".

Malaysian automotive design engineer and classic Japanese car restorer D.M. Gomez is worried that many car spare parts sent here could have been contaminated by radiation.

"To safeguard the public, I hope and trust all parts, both new and used being shipped out of Japan and coming into the Malaysian market are checked for radiation," said the 32-year-old, who is currently sourcing for rare parts for his Nissan Skyline supercar project.

Gomez expressed confidence that authorities from both sides would be vigilant, but the concern among people who restored classic Japanese cars and even modern ones was a real one.

"I also own a 1988 Honda Civic and some body parts for example, are sourced from wrecker's yards.

"I'm confident that Japanese and Malaysian government agencies will look into this."

Read more: Fears over 'tsunami cars' landing in Malaysia http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/08jipp/Article/#ixzz1H9CHpkQ0

 END OF ARTICLE...

ARTICLE: Proton recalls Satria Neo, Gen.2

Proton recalls Satria Neo, Gen.2

2010/10/08
By R. Sittamparam
news@nst.com.my

SUBANG JAYA: National carmaker Proton has announced a recall of its Gen.2 and Satria Neo models made between 2004 and 2008 because of potential safety concerns over a clock spring malfunction. The clock spring connects switches and airbags to the radio, horn and cruise control.

The recall, according to a statement by Proton yesterday, is part of the company’s Global Quality Assurance (GQA) programme.

It affects 15,911 cars out of a total of 660,000 produced and sold by Proton over the four-year period.
Proton Holdings Bhd managing director Datuk Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamad Tahir said: “Although the number is small, the safety of our customers is paramount and we apologise for any inconvenience caused.

“The recall is an example of the commitment we place on our customers’ safety and the reliability of our vehicles under Proton’s GQA programme.” Proton, which was established in 1983, is Malaysia’s largest carmaker and the only full-fledged original equipment manufacturer in Southeast Asia.

Routine tests by Proton have identified irregularities with the clock spring, including friction noise within the steering wheel, activation of horn or car lights without warning, audio control switch malfunction and, in extreme cases, deployment of the driver’s side airbag.
“We hope our customers understand that this recall is necessary to ensure their continued confidence in the safety and performance of their vehicles,” said Syed Zainal Abidin.

Owners of the affected models can contact any authorised Proton service centre for a free inspection. All labour and parts costs related to the replacement of the clock spring are free.

Proton will be sending letters to affected customers notifying them of the matter, besides setting up a dedicated website (www.
protonaftersales.com) to help customers check the year of manufacture of their vehicles.

For more information and clarification, owners can call Proton i-Care at 1-300-880-888 or contact their local dealer.


Read more: Proton recalls Satria Neo, Gen.2 http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/2010100802373220101008023732/Article/#ixzz11mv0MFwC