An Orange County, Florida family was blocked from re-registering their legally owned truck because its Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) had been used to register a ‘cloned’ vehicle in Massachusetts. This case highlights a critical failure mode in state motor vehicle databases, where a legitimate VIN can be co-opted by criminals to launder a stolen vehicle. The incident placed the burden of proof on the innocent owners, who were unable to resolve the bureaucratic nightmare until a local news outlet intervened on their behalf. This demonstrates how easily vehicle registration systems can be exploited, creating significant legal and financial problems for law-abiding citizens. The system’s vulnerability to such identity theft underscores a lack of robust verification, making it susceptible to fraud that directly impacts vehicle owners.