(WFRV) – Officials with the Wisconsin DMV are reminding car buyers to verify he mileage of a vehicle before buying it after nearly 6,000 vehicles were found to have a rolled-back odometer and $37 million was lost in fraud last year.
According to a release from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, rolling back the odometer of a vehicle to change the vehicle’s apparent mileage is becoming a more common method of fraud.
Last year, investigations led by the Wisconsin DMV’s Dealer and Agent Section identified 5,961 vehicles showing signs of a rolled-back odometer, marking a sharp increase from the 1,736 identified throughout 2023.
Illegally manipulating odometers to roll back the mileage numbers before a sale has been around for decades. Today’s fraudsters, however, have kept pace with technology and essentially hack the vehicle’s computer to change the mileage. This puts the new owner at risk.
DMV Dealer and Agent Section Chief Maura Schifalacqua
Officials say an estimated 613,910,784 miles were rolled off the 5,961 vehicles identified as showing signs of odometer rollback. The estimated amount of money due to this fraud is based on a $0.06 per mile damage calculation, totalling out to an estimated $36,834,647.
In 2023, the Wisconsin DMV identified a significantly lower 181,706,452 miles rolled of the odometers of vehicles, resulting in an estimated fraud loss of $10,902,387.
Instances of odometer rollbacks are often said to be caught when a vehicle is sold, which is what was said to have happened in instances of Wisconsin wholesalers who illegally sold vehicles to retail purchasers from Wisconsin and other states, non-Wisconsin dealers/wholesalers selling to retail purchasers from Wisconsin, private parties selling to purchasers from Wisconsin, and through title processing errors.
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DMV officials say they revoked 20 wholesale dealer licenses throughout 2024 due to odometer and title fraud, which is equal to the combined amount of wholesale dealer licenses revoked in 2022 and 2023.
Odometer fraud is used to increase profit but also to gain a competitive advantage within the used vehicle market. For example, prospective buyers often search Facebook Marketplace for vehicles with less mileage. As odometer fraud gains prevalence within a market, the motivation to commit odometer fraud may become less about gaining competitive advantage and more about keeping up with fraudulent competitors. Consumers suffer as a result.
DMV Investigator Joel Ingebrigtson
There are things that those who buy new vehicles can do to check for fraud and odometer rollbacks. These things include the following:
- Check the title of the vehicle and compare the mileage listed to the vehicle’s odometer. Look closely to ensure the mileage notation has not been obscured or altered.
- Ask for or check a vehicle history report, such as from CARFAX, and look for odometer discrepancies in the vehicle’s history.
- Check the maintenance or inspection records for the vehicle and compare them to the odometer mileage.
- Check that the numbers on the odometer gauge align correctly on mechanical odometers.
- Look at the tires and overall condition of the vehicle. For example, if the odometer on the car shows 20,000 or less, it should have original tires. The general wear and tear of the vehicle should be consistent with the number of miles displayed on the odometer.
Example of possible alterations to odometer readings courtesy of the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.
Officials also say to check the title of a vehicle, as it typically has an odometer printed on the front of it. They add that buyers should check that part of the title for whiteout or any other signs that it may have been tampered with.
For more information on the rights that consumers have and for additional online resources, visit the Wisconsin DMV website.
