Official VIN (officialvin.com) is a web-based platform which performs vehicle history reports.
The site was registered on January 2nd, 2018 by OfficialVIN Service.
Official VIN Overview
Official VIN’s operation is based around the principle of creating a more secure vehicle acquisition experience in terms of being able to perform history reports on any vehicle within a few short minutes.
While Official VIN fails to provide information regarding their origins, according to their domain, they are actively operating in a partnership with the National Motor Vehicle Title Information System along with undisclosed government agencies and industry partners.
These various partnerships enable Official VIN to obtain a designated vehicles history report and provides them to the consumer for a rate of $18.95 a piece.
How does Official VIN Work?
According to research, Official VIN appears to function as an intermediary service platform for their partnered organizations.
As stated at their domain, the majority of vehicle history reports acquired are obtained through affiliation with the National Motor Vehicle Title Information System (NMVTIS).
Those looking to research the history of a particular vehicle are able to enter the vehicles VIN number along with the designated zip code.
Within a few short minutes, Official VIN obtains the report from NMVTIS and renders the obtained history report in an order form which prompts the user to order their vehicle history report for $18.95.
Among the criteria covered in a vehicles history report would be title problem checks, prior damage checks, odometer checks, salvage/theft/lien checks along with historical events such as impound, export, recall and online sale records.
Due to operating in affiliation with the National Motor Vehicle Title Information System, Official VIN infers and supports that each obtained vehicle history report is backed with 100% transparency.
Question Marks and Red Flags
Official VIN is only compatible with US citizens which likely infers that their operation is based out of the United States. Official VIN is allegedly owned by OfficialVIN Service, although we were unsuccessful in finding any records at the Better Business Bureau to support their claim.
While the footer of their site incorporates a cumulative total vehicles checks widget of over 13.8 million, it raises speculation in regards the accuracy of this claim due to the fact that according to a WHOIS report, officialvin.com was a privately registered site that has a creation date of January 2nd, 2018.
Whether the alleged total vehicles checked is through Official VIN or through the National Motor Vehicle Title Information System, we are uncertain, but it seems highly unlikely it would pertain to Official VIN’s operation.
Among of the most pressing concerns regarding Official VIN that should be answered would be what is their corporate number and why the site doesn’t incorporate identifiable features regarding their operation.
In order to find anything of value regarding identity we had to scrounge their Privacy Policy which only disclosed OfficialVIN Service along with support@officialvin.com as identifying features.
Community Feedback
When we first published this review, Official VIN was only a couple of months old and had yet failed to acquire much community feedback.
A couple months after composing the original publication though, we have received many reports of unethical business practices in regards to Official VIN.
Shared below this review are some of the disturbing reports and the professional courtesy one could promptly expect from Official VIN.
Phone Numbers Reported
- 767-907-8606
- 573-539-4979
- 573-401-9686
- 573-389-0593
- 740-901-6526
- 215-560-0989
- 708-779-1747
- 805-678-1756
- 484-983-6473
- 484-983-6431
- 607-354-5504
- 760-249-0712
- 267-794-1455
- 470-615-8516
- 573-562-0431
- 573-574-9389
- 762-524-8923
- 470-274-9630
- 708-640-8439
- 740-330-1602
- 909-686-3058
Email Addresses Reported
- NatalieMcLeanGuU@Yahoo.com
- TheresaClarkNY@yahoo.com
- PeterKerrSC@yahoo.com
- AngelaHamiltonpD@yahoo.com
- SamRobertsonCZ@yahoo.com
- PhilWilkinsoYt@yahoo.com
- RachelDaviesaC@yahoo.com
- JasmineClarksonEN@yahoo.com
- AmeliaParrPEY@yahoo.com
- sophielnceYRE@yahoo.com
- TheresaPaigeoYf@yahoo.com
- VaughanWandaeG@yahoo.com
- AnthonyRutherfordHo@yahoo.com
- PeterRutherfordpbT@yahoo.com
- michelleNorthwyp@yahoo.com
- BrianGibsonbi@yahoo.com
- JoanneMacLeodZHy@yahoo.com
- WatsonAlexandrasR@yahoo.com
Complaints regarding the disclosed telephone numbers and email addresses have been filed against Official VIN.
Popularity
OfficialVIN.com has reflected an unnatural and unprecedented surge in growth according to SimiliarWeb.
Reflecting a global rank of 423,066 with a US rank of 91,591, Official VIN went from supporting 9,000 monthly visitors in January 2018 to over 150,000 as of February 2018.
During the time of writing this review (March 2018), Official VIN receives approximately 44.48% of their traffic from referral based sources while 17.90% is composed from e-mail based sources.
During the time of updating this review (May 1st, 2018), OfficialVIN.com has significantly loss traffic circulation and went from reflecting a global rank of 423,066 to 1,505,472. Previously, Official VIN was reflecting signs of utilizing inorganic traffic acquisition practices to acquire additional traffic but according to recent research and community feedback their site has declined in popularity and trustability.
Should Official VIN be Trusted?
Official VIN functions as an independent and nearly anonymous operation which are normally indications one should avoid when considering using any incentivized platform.
At first, we found Official VIN trustable due to their affiliation with the National Motor Vehicle Title Information System although troubling consumer feedback has made us reconsider our position. Therefore, we are no longer suggesting that Official VIN is trustworthy.
Official VIN Review – The Ruling
When it comes to utilizing or fulfilling a purchase through a newly created domain such as officialvin.com, we always encourage to exercise caution and check for insightful community feedback before committing.
Combining the updated community consensus in accordance with the research we disclosed in the review above, we are not recommending Official VIN.
I had a person contact me with the same song and dance from 469-526-9576.
I had my phone# listed on cars.com but the text I received said they saw my listing on Craigslist. The person asked me to complete a vin report on vinreportlocator.com but it directed me to official.vin. the person gave me an email to sent the report to: sophieturnergwl@yahoo.com
I was also asked: “hey, don’t mean to bother you but are you still here?”
this is word for work the same thing in the above comment. A total scam
Just got pinged by one of these guys. Seemed phishy. They called and hung up, then texted like others. Address that forwarded was Vinreportslocator.com AND vinreportsupreme.com
Phone number 1 (740) 426-2888
I’m guessing he slipped up and texted two different websites.
The forwarding address official.vin
Same as shown above
Another scam attempt from
SallyHowardzq@yahoo.com
909-683-2242
Called the number back after they called me. They didn’t answer, but then txt me saying that they couldn’t talk at the moment, even though they just called me a minute earlier.
Scam. Number was 774-539-1615. Called and asked if I was selling a bmw then hung up and texted instead. Sent me a link and asked me to email a report to paulbucklandln@yahoo.com Good think I did research and found this before falling for it. These scammers are getting good
Same M.O. as others. From (744) 247-9253 NicholasThompsonJV@yahoo.com. Short disconnected call then text messages.
Yep, scam. Happy I didn’t pay for anything! I’m just annoyed they woke me up…
Phone: 9094629930
Email: DorothyMurrayqap@yahoo.com
This email, dorothymurrayqap@yahoo.com, just tried contacting me as well. Just trying to get my vehicles information sent to her.
Add DanParrnYx@yahoo.com
Phone: 4706158769
Same exact scam after listing car on CL last night. Figured this was shady. Immediately blocked after he sent links and said that we can meet for test drive after I provide report. They even copy/paste the same obvious messages.
thank god for all the replys here i just got a text from a jessicaspringerWZi@yahoo.com wanting my car it had the exact same wording as “go lewis” on may 15. i thought it was a little off to use strange site for vin info and not even seeing the car.
After advertising on CL I got a similar call from 706-971-6689 which cut straight off, then got text messages asking me to provide a report from easyvinreports.com in one message and then quickvinreports.com in another message. Both redirect to official.vin. I believe that number was used because it’s a GA number and my number is a GA number except I’ve not lived there for years. The email I was supposed to send the report to was EricJohnstondk@yahoo.com. The messages kept coming asking when I’d sent the report saying they were ready to buy until I pointed out that I work in security and had done some checks and verified that this was a scam. The messages stopped after that. Don’t use officail.vin, it’s definitely a scam.
805-728-7757 It’s definitely a scam
George Same line of bull. phone 4695620822. email to WilliamMorrisoneP@yahoo.com