So here is more fuel for the fire...not that I think I will have this problem in Italy and with the new style key the Challenger uses it also may not be a problem for anyone...but food for thought!
Link:
Car Thieves Using VIN Numbers to Obtain Duplicate Keys
Netlore Archive: Email flier warns automobile owners to cover the VIN # on their dashboard with tape to prevent car thieves from writing it down and using it to obtain duplicate keys from a dealership
Subject: Car theft
Just heard this on the news here locally. Apparently car thieves have yet again found a way around the system and steal your car or truck without any effort at all.
The car thieves peer through the windshield of your car or truck, write down the VIN number from the label on the dash, go into the local dealership for that car brand and request a duplicate key for it from the VIN number. Car dealerships make up a duplicate key from the VIN number, collect payment from the 'customer' who's really a would-be car thief for making up the duplicate key -- the car thief goes back to your vehicle, inserts the key they've just gotten and off they drive with your car or truck.
They don't have to break in, don't have to damage the vehicle and draw no attention to themselves as all they have to do is to walk up to your car, insert the key and off they go to their chop shop with your vehicle!!! Can you believe it?
To avoid this from happening to you, simply put opaque tape (like a strip of electrical tape, duct tape or medical tape) across the VIN label located on the dash board. You can't remove the VIN number legally under most state laws, so cover it so that it can't be viewed through the windshield by a car thief. Anyway, feel free to forward this on before some other car thief steals another car or truck like this.
Unbelievable!
Comments: While there has been at least one well-publicized case (in 2002) of an auto theft ring using a ploy similar to the above to steal vehicles from used car lots, it is a complicated and time-consuming modus operandi and not the most likely way a thief might try to steal your car.
Still, the method can work, as proven in an experiment conducted by WTAE-TV News in Pittsburgh:
After getting permission from the owners, we jotted down VIN numbers from four different vehicles. Then, we went to four diffrerent car dealerships with a hidden camera. We told the same kind of story that a thief might tell: we locked the key in the car and needed a new one.
First, we went to a dealership and tried to get a key made for a 2003 Blazer. It couldn't have been any easier.
Next, we walked into another dealership with a phony story. Half an hour later, we had a key that got us into -- and away with -- the car. The key cost $2 and we paid cash. No one asked for identification.
Three out of the four car dealers struck duplicate keys with no questions asked, the reporters found, even though most dealerships have a policy of demanding identification before doing so. A different investigation conducted by the Sacramento Bee in 2003 found that car dealers were not only aware of the scam but in some cases believed they had actually foiled attempts to illegally obtain keys by insisting on proper documentation from the perpetrators.
Covering the dashboard VIN # is an option for vehicle owners concerned that they may be victimized in this manner, but, since some states prohibit it, checking local laws is advisable first.