Wisconsin DMV identifies nearly 6K vehicles with odometer rollback
MADISON, Wis. - The Wisconsin Department of Transportation's (WisDOT) Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) reminded car buyers on Monday, May 12 to verify vehicle mileage before they buy. Officials say fraud through "odometer rollback," changing the mileage shown on the vehicle’s odometer, is becoming more common.
Fraud through "odometer rollback"
What we know:
A news release said in 2024, investigations by Wisconsin DMV’s Dealer and Agent Section identified 5,961 vehicles which showed signs of having odometer rollbacks. This marked a sharp increase from 2023 when the DMV investigators identified 1,736 vehicles.
Odometer rollback involves disconnecting, resetting or altering a vehicle’s odometer with the intent to change the number of miles indicated. Of the nearly 6,000 vehicles discovered with altered mileage last year, an estimated 613,910,784 miles were rolled off the odometers. The estimated fraud loss based on a $0.06 per mile damage calculation is $36,834,647.
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Officials said this a marked increase from calendar year 2023, in which the identified vehicles had an estimated 181,706,452 miles rolled off the odometers, Schifalacqua noted. The estimated fraud loss in 2023 was $10,902,387.
Instances of odometer rollbacks are often caught when a vehicle is sold. Recent examples include:
- by Wisconsin wholesalers who illegally sold vehicles to retail purchasers from Wisconsin and other states
- by non-Wisconsin dealers/wholesalers to retail purchasers from Wisconsin
- by private parties to purchasers from Wisconsin
- through title processing errors
Dig deeper:
Wisconsin DMV Dealer and Agent Section investigators revoked 20 wholesale dealer licenses in 2024 due to odometer and title fraud. Last year’s total equaled the combined number of revocations from 2022 and 2023 (10 wholesale dealer licenses revoked each year).
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The Source: The information in this post was provided by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.