Why car thieves are targeting your vehicle registration | Here's how to protect yourself

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Car break-ins are one of the most common crimes in Philadelphia, making the list of top 5.

Car owners in the suburbs are also getting hit frequently, and many thieves are after one thing in particular: your vehicle registration.

Your registration has your name and address, as well as all of your vehicle information, including your plate, title, make, model and VIN. All that information is a treasure trove for criminals.

From Cheltenham and Gloucester townships to Northeast Philadelphia, as well as Roxborough, Spring Garden, and Fairmount -- these are all areas seeing car break-ins.

"It's one of the most common things to happen," said Alex Hamerstone of TrustedSec a cybersecurity firm. "If a thief gets access to your information, they can use it for identity theft."

Last year, the Federal Trade Commission received nearly 8,000 reports of ID theft in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington metro area.

"The other thing is the registration could be used in insurance fraud ... so taking it and filing claims and things like that," said Hamerstone.

Using your vehicle information, criminals can fabricate events for insurance money. The FTC says non-medical insurance fraud is skyrocketing, increasing 34 percent last year from the year before.

Your car registration also makes it easier for thieves to sell your car overseas.

"They can take the registration and then take a stolen car of the same make and model and color, and then use your registration to kind of, you know, wash that other car. Wash the registration of the other car and register it legally," said Hamerstone.

And while it may seem like a good idea to keep your registration only on your phone, that would mean giving a police officer your unlocked device.

"There are privacy issues there and certainly that's a decision everyone would need to make themselves but they should consider the possible ramifications of that," said Hamerstone.

And be aware you might be keeping other valuable documents in your car -- ones you should store safely elsewhere.

"Some people even keep their title in the car, and that's certainly a recipe for disaster right? If somebody has the title they can, you know, get a notarization and get find an unscrupulous notary and sign that title right over to themselves," said Hamerstone.

Instead, take steps to prevent car theft in the first place. Keep valuables out of sight, lock your registration and insurance card in the glove compartment and park in a well-lit area.

If your vehicle registration is taken, alert your insurance company and report it to the police.

Another concern, according to Hamerstone, "They (the thieves or vandals) know where you live. And if you have a nice car, they could then assume that you're going to have nice things worth stealing in your house."