CARLSBAD, Calif. — Bender Enterprises, makers of the handheld barcode VIN scanner, VINtrack-Live, touted its effectiveness while recently working with Mexican authorities.

The device was recently used by law enforcement at a checkpoint along the California-Mexico border resulted in the recovery of a vehicle stolen almost a year ago. Three suspects were arrested while driving a 2003 Honda that had its VIN switched.

"VINtrack software identified the stolen vehicle that would have otherwise slipped through the cracks," Bender declared.

Management explained what these suspects allegedly did, a practice called "VIN-switching."

Bender said auto thieves have used fraudulent VINs to pass off stolen vehicles to an unsuspecting marketplace using these techniques that law enforcement also calls "cloning."

VINtrack operates in conjunction with barcode scanners so investigators can tell if a vehicle has been stolen or if the VIN number has been modified.

Bender executives contend VINtrack is the only software in the world specifically designed to detect counterfeit vehicle identification numbers.

They went on to point out nearly 1 million vehicles are stolen every year in the United States and it has become increasingly difficult to recover them. Bender believes more than 400,000 stolen vehicles are not recovered annually and most of them end up back in commerce with their identity changed.

"These vehicles further victimize the new owners and automobile dealers as the vehicle will be confiscated by law enforcement," the company stressed.

"The sophistication of organized car theft rings has increased dramatically over the last decade making it very difficult for even a seasoned auto theft detective to distinguish a VIN-switched stolen vehicle or clone from a good vehicle," management added.

Bender indicated more than 200 local, state and federal agencies around the world use VINtrack systems for theft detection. The company said dealers can use VINtrack systems to make informed buying decisions and prevent the millions of dollars lost by unknowingly selling VIN-switched vehicles.

"This is an essential tool to improve recovery of these sophisticated 21^st-century VIN-switches," asserted Mike Bender, founder of Bender Enterprises.