Motor Vehicle Fraud

What is Motor Vehicle Fraud?

Motor Vehicle Fraud occurs when an individual purchases a used vehicle and has been misled about vehicle. The seller may not be forthright about the vehicle's condition at the time of sale, or the VIN number has been altered to hide its past from the buyer. Consumers need to be aware of the hazards of potential misinformation about the actual condition of the vehicle and its title.

Types of Motor Vehicle Fraud:

Damaged or Salvaged Titles

Poorly rebuilt vehicles involve wrecked or salvaged vehicles. These vehicles may be unfit or hazardous to drive, or priced too high for their actual condition, despite their outside appearance. Most of these vehicles were in accidents or floods. They may have steering or engine problems, defective brakes, or poorly welded parts.

Stolen License Plates

If your license plates are stolen, you will want to report it to your local law enforcement agency and contact your county motor vehicle office to report the theft and reissue your plates.

• IMPORTANT: If you choose to have the same plate configuration issued as what was stolen, please be aware that you are at risk of being pulled over, stopped, questioned, or detained by law enforcement, as the plate will still have a stolen indicator on it

Odometer Fraud

• Reporting and Protecting Yourself from Odometer Fraud
• Stop Fraud Colorado

Buying and Selling a Vehicle

• Don’t Get “Taken for a Ride"
• VIN Check
• Buying and Selling a Vehicle

Fake DMV Website Fraud Alert - VIDEO

• Please be aware of fraudulent websites providing DMV services. They could be trying to steal your personal identifying information.
• Please be aware of websites that are not affiliated with the Colorado DMV but do provide service to consumers.
• Always use the direct website dmv.colorado.gov when conducting DMV business.
• Always look for a disclaimer at the top or bottom of the site that says they are not affiliated with any Government agency.

Vehicle Title Fraud Alert

• NMVTIS was created to protect consumers from vehicle fraud and unsafe vehicles. AAMVA has developed a video to raise awareness of NMVTIS and its potential use by anyone considering buying a used vehicle. State agencies use NMVTIS information as part of their vehicle titling process, consumers would benefit from using the same system. Before purchasing a used vehicle please watch this video.

Four versions of the video are available:

• NMVTIS Vehicle History for Consumers‚ English
• NMVTIS Vehicle History for Consumers, English, Closed Captioned
• NMVTIS Vehicle History for Consumers, Spanish
• NMVTIS Vehicle History for Consumers, Spanish, Closed Captioned

Purchasing Vehicle Record Searches (other than your own)

To purchase a record OTHER THAN YOUR OWN, you must have the signature of the person in interest authorizing you to inspect the record, or you must declare your intended use of that record. If you are acting as an agent for an authorized user, you must identify the company or entity on whose behalf you are requesting the record. Click here to learn more about how to purchase a record other than your own.

Motor Vehicle Fraud Prevention Tips:

• Make sure you are on an official state of Colorado Website. The official website of the Colorado Division of Motor Vehicles will always contain "colorado.gov" in the title of the URL. If this is not in the title the website is not associated with the Colorado DMV.
• Make sure you are visiting an authorized DMV office. A list of locations is available at on the DMV locations webpage. All in-person transactions should take place inside the office.
• Do not purchase DMV services outside the official DMV website or an authorized DMV office.
• The only way to reinstate a suspended or revoked driver license is through the official DMV process. For more on this process, please go to www.dmv.colorado.gov/process-reinstate-driving-privilege.
• If you are about to purchase a service from someone under somewhat unusual or suspicious circumstances always verify the legitimacy with the actual agency. You can do that by reporting info to the DMV hotline‚ (303) 205-2983, sending emails to [email protected] or looking at our website for more information.
• For more information about fraud and identity theft, visit or www.colorado.gov/cbi/identity-theft-and-mis-identification.