What Is Odometer Rollback Fraud"

Also known as ?busting miles,? odometer rollback is the act of tampering with a vehicle that results in a mileage reading lower than what it has actually traveled. The primary motivation for odometer rollback and tampering is to increase the sale price of a used car.

Odometer rollback fraud has been a problem ever since manufacturers started placing odometers in their cars. Back in the day, when manufacturers made cars with mechanical odometers, rolling back meant manually changing the number on the device and fitting it back into the dashboard.

The world has gone digital, and cars are no longer using mechanical odometers; nearly all modern cars record mileage electronically now. Unfortunately, scammers have gone digital too. Instead of manually rolling back the vehicle’s odometer, they tamper with the software instead.
The impact of odometer rollback fraud is not cheap either, as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates it results in $1.05 billion in losses every year in the United States alone.

How Common Is Odometer Tampering"

According to this NHTSA study (PDF), approximately 452,000 used cars with false odometer readings are sold each year, or 3.47 percent of all used vehicles sold. This means that if you plan to buy a used car, there is around a one in 29 chance you could experience odometer rollback fraud.

No matter if it is an individual selling a car or a dealership,...