Vehicle fraudulently transferred out of account without permission

[Rice&Curry]

OP's car insurance agent might be a good resource in how to handle this case, documentation, and attorney referral.

This is as wild a situation I have ever heard. Scares the daylight out of me as how Tesla can be so easily fooled as they don't verify the authenticity of the documents with either DMV or the original owner. I think the suggestion to get the insurance company involved may be a good idea.. If the car has a loan then get the financing company/Lien holder involved. Both Insurance and Financing companies have an army of lawyers to take this up . Hope this helps...

 

[Chris55555]

A week and no lawyer yet?

1. Lawyer
2. Police report
3. News orgs (multiple, they all love a good Tesla story)
4. Going full Karen at the SC
5. All of the above simultaneously

 

[OxBrew]

Tesla has direct access to DMV records through the state computers, just like any car dealer. They can issue temporary registration with that system.

They should be able to log on and verify current ownership.

I struggle to understand how they would accept a Bill of Sale to transfer ownership. They need evidence of completed title transfer, verified through the State DMV.

You should be able to make them look you up on the spot in the State DMV system, and verify that there is no pending transfer, and fix it.

 

[father_of_6]

I struggle to understand how they would accept a Bill of Sale to transfer ownership. They need evidence of completed title transfer, verified through the State DMV.

This is a good point. @Naonak - proof or it didn't happen.

 

[DrGriz]

This is a good point. @Naonak - proof or it didn't happen.

It's hard to believe.

 

[OxBrew]

I'm guessing they got an attorney the other day and step one was to stop posting and talking about this here or anywhere. SOP.

 

[calm-one]

I do hope that the OP gets this worked out.
Plus he might want to consider setting a PIN to drive if someone else has access to his vehicle. Unsure if even a PIN to drive can be bypassed with social engineering, but...

For the rest of us. If this is a new nefarious scam is there anything we can do to prevent this from happening? Is there going to be any notification before the vehicle is gone from the app?

Thoughts?

 

[brainhouston]

I do hope that the OP gets this worked out.
Plus he might want to consider setting a PIN to drive if someone else has access to his vehicle. Unsure if even a PIN to drive can be bypassed with social engineering, but...

P2D can be reset with Tesla account credentials or trying all combos if u have enough time

 

[mvotb]

Text Tesla and suggest they call your cell phone on facetime, at a time you will be with your car, and you will walk to your car and show the car and VIN is in your possession. Suggest they do the same after that with the fake buyer.

 

[calm-one]

P2D can be reset with Tesla account credentials or trying all combos if u have enough time

Oh boy.

 

[mtbwalt]

This clearly isn’t going to be solved quickly or with common sense. Time to lawyer up IMO. You paid for your vehicle and deserve full functionality.

 

[dmurphy]

I doubt it they could disable it. That requires the current email address/password for the account that the vehicle is linked to.

You’d best believe that, were I in this situation, the LTE radio in that care would be unplugged by now. At a minimum, the SIM card would be in my pocket.

 

[12Pack]

Am I wrong, but doesn’t the app/account require the current owner to initiate an ownership transfer. I don’t understand how Tesla accepted a new Bill of Sale without the current owner initiating the transfer.

 

[brainhouston]

Am I wrong, but doesn’t the app/account require the current owner to initiate an ownership transfer. I don’t understand how Tesla accepted a new Bill of Sale without the current owner initiating the transfer.

don't think so... bad example but what if the owner is deceased? how would they initiate it...
plus im sure many owners forget to do that..
what u might be thinking of is the option Tesla added not too long ago to add next owners email when removing a car so the transfer process is quick n easy.

 

[Droschke]

bad example but what if the owner is deceased?

This is a good point. The situation in which the owner is deceased. The car is sold to a used car dealership by just exchanging the title (the dealership is not aware of the app transfer process or simply does not care). The dealership sells the car to a new buyer. What is this new owner supposed to do? Looks like the new owner would approach Tesla for transfer exactly as the impostor in this case has done. The process (loophole) seems to exist and can be abused.

Am I not correct?

 

[MorrisonHiker]

In the app, it's possible for either the buyer or seller to transfer ownership.

 

[Droschke]

In the app, it's possible for either the buyer or seller to transfer ownership.

Except the impostor in this case did not have access to the OP's car.

 

[MorrisonHiker]

Except the impostor in this case did not have access to the OP's car.

I was just pointing out that if a person legitimately buys a vehicle from a dealer, they should have no problem transferring ownership. They should be able to use the app and provide the necessary documents and be able to take ownership without (m)any problems. A legitimate new buyer would have access to the car and be able to perform the step to change the vehicle name.

 

[Droschke]

I was just pointing out that if a person legitimately buys a vehicle from a dealer, they should have no problem transferring ownership. They should be able to use the app and provide the necessary documents and be able to take ownership without (m)any problems. A legitimate new buyer would have access to the car and be able to perform the step to change the vehicle name.

Sorry it wasn't clear to me that you were just validating my hypothesis.

 

[Transformer]

Will we find out if this case is for real?