‘Did my due diligence’: man furious after police seize trailer purchased in private sale

A Manitoba fraud victim is warning private vehicle buyers after he purchased a utility trailer that passed an Autopac agent’s background check but — to his surprise — turned out to be stolen.

Andy Bergen said he sought compensation from Manitoba Public Insurance but is out $4,000 for the trailer, which was seized by Winnipeg police, and $500 for parts that he installed.

“I’m just one of probably many people this (type of fraud) has affected,” said Bergen, who lives in MacGregor, about 100 kilometres west of Winnipeg. “I’m left with nothing, and countless people like me are left with nothing.”

“I’m left with nothing, and countless people like me are left with nothing.”

Bergen saw the trailer on Facebook Marketplace in January. He met the seller, who was towing the trailer behind an SUV, outside a gas station in Oak Bluff, just west of Winnipeg.

Bergen said he checked the trailer’s vehicle identification number (VIN), which matched the VIN listed on the seller’s transfer of ownership document.

Instead of buying the trailer on the spot, he insisted they go to an insurance brokerage where he could register it before proceeding with the sale.

Bergen said an insurance broker told him the VIN came back clean during a check.

“I asked again, ‘Are you sure about this?’ She said everything checked out,” he said. “I did my due diligence. I did everything you’re supposed to do.”

Thieves have figured out how to get “new” VINs, Bergen said.

MPI would not confirm how the VIN on the stolen trailer came back clean, but it is possible the number was cloned, allowing the theft to go undetected during a background check.

Bergen bought insurance, got a licence plate and paid the seller before towing the trailer home. A police officer phoned in June to tell him the trailer was stolen.

Winnipeg police spokesman Const. Claude Chancy said the property crimes unit investigated the trailer theft, which occurred on the 1200 block of Loudoun Road, south of Wilkes Avenue, in January.

A 47-year-old man, who was arrested Aug. 18, was linked to several other investigations involving trailer thefts and sales to unsuspecting buyers via online platforms, Chancy said. The investigations continue.

MPI denied Bergen’s insurance claim.

“They said it was stolen and I never should have registered it,” he said. “I said, ‘I bought it legally.’ I went to a broker who is licensed by MPI.”

He was eligible for a refund for the MPI premium and registration fee. Crown corporation staff explained how to recoup the taxes on the sale, said Bergen, who is still hoping to recover the $4,500 for the trailer and parts.

He expressed frustration over what he described as a lack of accountability.

MPI spokeswoman Tara Seel said brokers run VINs through the Canadian Police Information Centre to find out if vehicles or trailers were reported stolen.

“A VIN might not be on there as reported stolen because it could be an instance of VIN cloning or something of that nature,” she said.

Seel said the responsibility of rooting out a cloned VIN doesn’t fall on a broker, who is an agent for MPI, because they rely on systems that are provided to them.

As for Bergen’s bid for compensation, Seel declined to get into specific details of his case, citing privacy legislation, but said there is “no further avenue” to pursue via MPI.

“We completely empathize with this customer,” she said. “He bought in good faith, did all the things he was supposed to do, checked all those boxes and was defrauded.”

“He bought in good faith, did all the things he was supposed to do, checked all those boxes and was defrauded.”

The transaction involved documents that, unbeknownst to Bergen, were fraudulent. As a result, Seel said, there is “no insurable interest, which means there would be no theft claim because the trailer was never his to begin with.”

In such a case, an MPI customer could pursue a civil case against a seller or seek restitution if the fraud goes before a criminal court.

It is a matter of “buyer beware” when buying privately, said Seel. Some online platforms recognize regular or top sellers, she noted.

Seel recommends people ask to see a seller’s identification, compare it to the name on the vehicle or trailer’s title, and ensure the seller provides a legitimate address and phone number.

It is a red flag if the seller does not provide a vehicle history report, she said.

The bill of sale should contain names, vehicle details, the sale price and signatures.

Winnipeg police have “buy and sell exchange zones” outside each of the city’s four police stations, where there may be video monitoring.

MPI has developed a computer program that is designed to track VINs and try to identify criminals who are involved in cloning or other crimes.

“We recognize this is an issue, as does law enforcement, so we work very diligently to do the groundwork on the back end to make sure that, throughout the process, these VINs are identifiable,” Seel said.

In January, MPI said the technology helped crack a sophisticated VIN cloning scheme linked to organized crime. VINs from registered vehicles in Ontario and attached them to stolen vehicles that were sold in Manitoba.

Insurance Brokers Association of Manitoba CEO Grant Wainikka said it appears Bergen and the brokerage properly followed MPI’s guidelines and procedures.

“Obviously, this is not an ideal outcome for anyone,” he wrote in an email.

Wainikka said insurance fraud leads to higher premiums.

“IBAM is prepared to work with MPI in an effort to improve their processes so that, moving forward, fewer Manitobans find themselves in this unfortunate situation,” he wrote.

chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca