Am I being paranoid about posting VIN?
 

After being told repeatedly that I'm being needlessly concerned about posting VIN info on this board I find this on the Caddy board I joined:
http://www.cadillacforums.com/forums...cam-alert.html

Am I the only one concerned, and am I being "paranoid"? :confused:

Glenn

Re: Am I being paranoid about posting VIN?
 

This isn't any "less safe" than someone walking by and getting it off of your dash or registration sticker....

Re: Am I being paranoid about posting VIN?
 

<< Am I the only one concerned, and am I being "paranoid"? >>

i dont think your being paranoid. just dont buy a car off someone and "wire" them money for a deposit before you see the car in person. i seen so many: " a guy bought my car, he was from nigeria and send me more money for the purchase, and i sent him the difference" schemes its not funny!

Re: Am I being paranoid about posting VIN?
 

Purchasing a car with a bank wire and having it shipped is safe if you're smart enough to research the seller. I've bought several cars this way, and have sold over 100 this way.

Re: Am I being paranoid about posting VIN?
 

Definitely paranoid. The major part of the scam really has nothing to do with the VIN. It's has to do with how payment is handled.

You don't even have to walk by to get your VIN. We now how many cars were made and how the VIN works, so I can just pick a number that I know exists and go with that.

I also question the reason for hiding license plate numbers in pictures. Again, you drive it down the road and hundreds see it everyday. So, what is the purpose for hiding it??

Lee

Re: Am I being paranoid about posting VIN?
 

Thanks guys! All valid points. I suppose I should just relax and register my '97.

Glenn :cool:

Re: Am I being paranoid about posting VIN?
 

Shopping lists. It's happened with our local car club.

People post up their mods and a picture of their car, lurker thief uses the license plate to find the home address, then goes and steals the car.

Re: Am I being paranoid about posting VIN?
 

And how many times do you think that this has really happened? If you know the VIN and how it works, I can just about guess what it is. Showing your license plate or the VIN will not put you much more at risk than having your car out on the street. :o

Re: Am I being paranoid about posting VIN?
 

To each their own. Everyone just do what they are comfortable with, for whatever personal reasons. You don't have to give in to pressure if you don't want to. :)


Numbers and various parts of ID's are a funny thing these days.


I am one of a handful of people in a company of 300,000 employees that has access to ALL personnel data, past and present and the responsibility to safeguard it and send out bits of it as needed.


The level of approval and security measures I have to take to send an internal HR client a short list of employees that happens to have their full birthdate (month, day, year) is amazing.

Yet almost everyone on my Friends list on Facebook has their full birthdate listed right there on their profile. :o

It's all relative to someone's preference and level of paranoia. :eek::lol:

Re: Am I being paranoid about posting VIN?
 

How does someone look up the home address from the license plate?? Not possible here. Now of course they can follow you home. :rolleyes:

Lee

Re: Am I being paranoid about posting VIN?
 

There's a big difference between vehicle information which is openly visible and personal information which is not.

Facebook is a bad act as far as I am concerned. I joined several years ago, briefly, but did not post much information. After further assessment, I did not post more and have not added to my friends list.

Lee

Re: Am I being paranoid about posting VIN?
 

<< Purchasing a car with a bank wire and having it shipped is safe if you're smart enough to research the seller. I've bought several cars this way, and have sold over 100 this way. >>


"smart enough to research the seller" (or buyer)

totally agree

Re: Am I being paranoid about posting VIN?
 

Oh I know Lee, I was just stating as a different example along the same lines that I'd had personal experience with and the ironic nature of it vs. facebook, etc. I wasn't necessarily saying that because a certain large company guards full birthdates so heavily that VINs need the same treatment. :o

Re: Am I being paranoid about posting VIN?
 

Actually, I can't throw to many stones. You will notice that my birth date is not posted in my personal information and it's not because I am trying to hide my age.

And--I held out for a very long time on providing my vehicle information on here. But, that was not because of privacy, it was because at first the information was not available to anyone except the administrators. Showing my VIN or license plate on here does not bother me in the least.

Lee

Re: Am I being paranoid about posting VIN?
 

You don't have to be paranoid but it helps.

A percentage of bad eggs are out to get us, so we need to be a percentage paranoid.

I concur with both posts above. I don't put my date of birth on anything. I'm not shy, but it is one of the primary keys for accessing your information, or for cloning your identity.

Another thing that alarms and bothers me is when people publish straight [unencoded] email addresses or telephone numbers.

In relation to VIN numbers and those who are sensitive about them; we ask for the numbers in order to complete the Register for later classic status for our SVX cars. Anybody who does not want your VIN published, just say so.

We will register your VIN in the records and keep it absolutely private. Or we can blank out certain numbers or letters in published lists to keep the low lifes guessing. Half private, if you catch my drift.;)

It's your call. We appreciate you forwarding the information. If you want it kept off the public record, just say so. That will not in any way compromise the reason for keeping the records.

Joe