| avionics | The electronic equipment (e.g., radio, navigation) on an aircraft.
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| cargo theft | The theft of items from or in commercial motor vehicles.
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| chop shop | An illegal operation at which stolen cars are disassembled and their traceable parts altered or disposed of so that untraceable parts can be sold to repair shops, salvage yards, and indiscriminate buyers.
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| commercial-vehicle theft | The theft of vehicle tractor units and trailers.
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| confidential VIN | A duplicate vehicle identification number stamped into a vehicle's frame or body in a place known only to the manufacturer and law enforcement specialists in vehicle identification and auto theft investigation.
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| documented vessel | A boat that is registered by the U.S. Coast Guard.
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| false-theft scheme | An insurance fraud in which the owner of a vehicle reports it stolen but has actually hidden or disposed of it.
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| false-vehicle scheme | An insurance fraud in which a person insures a vehicle that: does not exist; has already been salvaged; or belongs to someone else and later reports the vehicle stolen.
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| federal safety certification label | The sticker certifying a vehicle's safety, including its VIN; usually located on the driver's door or doorpost.
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| gray-market vehicle | Vehicles purchased abroad and shipped to the United States; may require modifications to meet U.S. emission control and safety standards.
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| heavy equipment | Heavy construction equipment; usually does not require a title or registration. Also called off-road equipment.
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| hull identification number (HIN) | Identification number assigned to boats.
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| inflated-theft-loss scheme | An insurance fraud in which the owner of a stolen vehicle reports a greater financial loss—based on alleged current value, damage, or stolen parts—than is the case.
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| joyriding | The theft and use of a motor vehicle solely to drive it, after which it is abandoned; usually committed by teenagers.
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| marine theft | The theft of boats, boat trailers, outboard motors, jet skis, and all equipment associated with boating or water activities.
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| Motor Vehicle Theft Law Enforcement Act (1984) | Federal legislation requiring that manufacturers place permanent identification numbers on major parts of certain car lines.
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| National Motor Vehicle Title Information System (NMVTIS) | Under development; a computerized database that will include complete histories of vehicles in all states and will prevent title laundering between states.
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| odometer fraud | The crime of rolling back a vehicle's odometer so that it shows a lower mileage than is the case, and obtaining or altering paperwork to support the fraud. Also called odometer tampering, rollback, and clocking.
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| off-road equipment | Heavy construction equipment and farm equipment.
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| A vehicle that does not exist but is insured on the basis of a counterfeit title or manufacturer's certificate of origin so that it can later be reported stolen.
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| parts marking | The process, mandated by law, of attaching VIN labels to the major parts of vehicles in high-theft lines.
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| passive system (theft deterrent) | A type of vehicle antitheft device which activates automatically but may require that the driver do something to deactivate the system.
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| product identification number (PIN) | PIN stands for product identification number.
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| professional theft (of vehicle) | The theft of a vehicle to fill a specific order or to resell the parts.
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| quick strip (of vehicle) | The process of removing from a stolen vehicle valuable parts (e.g., seats, stereos, tires) that have no identifying numbers and thus can be easily sold.
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| salvage switch | A method of disguising a stolen vehicle whereby the title and VIN plate of a salvage vehicle are transferred to an identical stolen vehicle, which can then be sold in the legitimate market.
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| salvage title | The title issued to an insurance company after it has paid a total-loss claim; remains with the vehicle until it is destroyed.
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| salvage vehicle | A vehicle that has been damaged to such an extent that the cost of repairing it is more than its fair market value.
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| Stolen Auto Recovery (STAR) System | A method of examining and photographing the contents of shipping containers, by means of gamma rays, while they are entering a port or being loaded onto a vessel; used to identify stolen vehicles being shipped abroad.
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| title fraud | For motor vehicles, any act that involves altering, laundering, or counterfeiting a title or title reassignment form; often engaged in to support and cover up odometer rollbacks.
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| Truth in Mileage Act (1986) | Federal legislation that requires more tightly controlled documentation and recording of odometer readings each time ownership of a vehicle changes.
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| vehicle fraud | Any fraudulent activity involving motor vehicles; includes theft of vehicles, fraud perpetrated on purchasers of vehicles, and fraud committed by owners (or persons acting on their behalf) against insurance companies.
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| vehicle identification number (VIN) | The 17-character identification number assigned to every car manufactured or sold in the United States.
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| washing (of title) | The process of fabricating a vehicle's sale to a purchaser in a jurisdiction that does not issue salvage titles or carry title brands forward, thereby obtaining a clean title on the vehicle.
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