Stolen cars are ending up at dealerships. New CBSA data sharing could help catch more of them

As of this week, the Canada Border Services Agency is taking steps that could help close what some experts call a loophole that has made it easier for thieves to disguise stolen vehicles. 

CBC Toronto has learned that as of Tuesday, CBSA has begun sharing some vehicle export data with CARFAX and Équité Association, and is exploring the possibility of sharing it with other stakeholders, too.  

It is unclear exactly how CARFAX, a company that provides vehicle history reports, and Équité Association, a non-profit insurance fraud watchdog, will be using the CBSA data, but it could signal improvements in catching stolen vehicles. 

Experts say vehicle identification numbers (VINs) on legally exported vehicles are highly sought after by criminals, who clone the unique serial number — typically found in several locations, including the dashboard — and put it on a stolen vehicle in Canada, also known as re-VINing. With no way for dealers, buyers or provincial ministries to verify if a vehicle has been exported, some well-disguised stolen vehicles have been slipping through the cracks undetected. 

The Used Car Dealers Association of Ontario has been calling on the CBSA for more than a year to make exported VIN information available. The organization's executive director says sharing the data with CARFAX is a good start, though he says more can be done to make the information available to others. Read more

Canadians alarmed by text messages asking their vote preference. Then their postal code. Then their name

It's election time, so receiving a text message from "Mary" or "Nancy" asking about your voting preferences might not seem all that unusual.

At least that's what Calgarian Stacey Schoneck thought when she heard her phone ping this week and read a message from a sender with "ERG National Research" posing that question, along with a list of federal party choices.

"I was momentarily quite excited [and] thought, I get a chance to say what is going on in Alberta," said Schoneck.

So, she responded.

When a return text asked for her postal code, she responded again.

But then she was asked for her name. She says that's when she realized something was off and started asking the sender questions with no response.

"You don't need my name, so that to me was very suspect," Schoneck told CBC News.

She wasn't alone in being suspicious. 

The Canadian Research Insights Council (CRIC), a polling industry association, posted a notice on its website last year saying it has received numerous complaints about these text message tactics from ERG National Research.

The notice stresses that ERG is not a member of its association and "should not be confused with Environics Research, a CRIC member in good standing."

"We have very specific rules on how our members collect data and get survey information from individuals, and we really use that as a way to try to distinguish a legitimate request from some that may not be legitimate," said CRIC CEO John Tabone.

ERG National Research could not be reached for comment. Read more

Seed sales blossoming as gardeners try to avoid U.S. produce

What else is going on?

From meeting Darth Vader to eating at the food court, Waterloo, Ont., region shoppers remember Hudson's Bay
The 355-year-old company is currently liquidating all but six stores.

Hudson's Bay managers will get up to $3 million in bonuses, but workers get no severance
Retailer confirms it will not pay severance to the thousands of employees who will soon lose their jobs.

Saskatchewan government to eliminate industrial carbon tax on April 1
Province says the move will make Saskatchewan the first carbon tax-free province in Canada.