On February 17, WANADA partnered with IMPACT Training to conduct a seminar for dealership personnel and law enforcement officials on the prevalence, methodologies and prevention tips of vehicle related crimes in dealerships. As most are aware, vehicle related crimes have skyrocketed in recent years and much of the spike centers around attempts to obtain vehicles from dealerships under false pretenses, including the utilization of synthetic identities and other practices. Presenters at the seminar included Missy Coyne, a retired Baltimore County detective who now serves as a special agent with the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) and Scott Addison from Fitzgerald Auto Malls, who shared some of the strategies that the Fitzgerald organization has implemented to curb the effectiveness of fraudsters at his company.
In an effort to increase coordination among dealership groups, WANADA is exploring new tools and tactics that will enhance the current notification measures we have in place. We currently notify all recipients of the WANADA Bulletin whenever we receive reports of fraud attempts or other noteworthy, suspicious activity, to include the circulation of fake IDs and other data. As we work to develop new tools, details of which we hope to announce later this year, please continue to send us information that you believe may be relevant for the entire dealership community. It has also been suggested that each dealership group should develop an internal alert email group to whom these alerts can be easily forwarded. For example, an internal email group like “fraudalert@dealership.com” can be set up so that all relevant sales managers, security personnel or other individuals can receive these alerts. Once set up, please email Joe Koch, Vice President of Operations, at jk@wanada.org to have your internal email added to the distribution list.