Police repeatedly detained an Ontario resident, mistakenly believing him to be a fraudster, when in reality he was an unwitting victim of fraud.
In the eastern outskirts of Toronto, a truck mechanic named Steve Fowler found himself in an unexpected predicament. His 2020 Ram truck, a trusted companion in his daily work, became the centre of a mystery involving vehicle identity fraud, commonly known as VIN fraud.
Last fall, Fowler discovered that he was a victim of this scheme, where stolen cars are disguised as legitimate vehicles. The perpetrators had managed to alter the records of his truck at a Service Ontario office in Pickering, a separate, privately-owned agency that did not respond to messages from the news website.
The VIN number for Fowler's truck turned up on a vehicle that was seized by police in London, Ontario, indicating that his vehicle had been flagged as having a duplicate VIN in a Ministry of Transportation database. This replacement was done without Fowler's physical presence, only through computers and emails.
Over about a year and a half, Fowler was pulled over between 20 to 30 times. The officers were friendly and professional during each encounter, but they claimed there was a problem with his licence plate. However, each time, Fowler showed the officers the documentation that the vehicle was his, and he was let go.
The London Police Service discovered the duplicate VIN for Fowler's truck, and they started pulling him over, starting around December 2023. Despite the police's efforts, they couldn't inspect Fowler's vehicle because he was driving in South Simcoe and York Region.
There are unanswered questions about who at the Pickering Service Ontario altered the records. The Ministry stated that Service Ontario is in regular communication with its service providers and they are required to comply with the government's policies and procedures. However, the Ministry responsible for Service Ontario did not answer direct questions about the issue and did not confirm an investigation.
There are examples of Service Ontario workers being charged with helping thieves, including Tonisha Baird in Brampton, Ontario. Despite these incidents, the staff at the Pickering Service Ontario office refused to deal with the news website and did not provide a contact number.
The Ontario government moved to restrict some types of re-vinning last fall, but it remains unclear if these measures were in place when Fowler's truck was targeted. VIN fraud is on the rise, according to Dan Service of VIN Verification Inc., making cases like Fowler's increasingly common.
As Fowler continues to navigate this complex situation, he hopes that his story will shed light on the issue and lead to tighter regulations and accountability within Service Ontario.
