Wisconsin concludes odometer fraud investigation
The Brief
The Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) investigated a Lake Villa woman's car history after she found an odometer discrepancy on a CARFAX.
The state investigator ran into trouble establishing the car's chain-of-ownership due to private car sales.
CARFAX estimates there are 32,300 vehicles in Wisconsin with rolled-back odometers.
LAKE VILLA, Ill. - More than 100,000 miles were erased from her car's odometer. Now, a Lake Villa, Illinois woman has learned the outcome of a state investigation into her vehicle's history.
What we know
Dina Piazza has never been so happy to see her car on the back of a tow truck. In March, she finally sent it to a salvage yard.
"(The salvage business) came and picked it up, towed it away, and now it is out of my life," said Piazza. "I won't put anyone else through the misery of trying to fix that mess."
FREE DOWNLOAD: Get breaking news alerts in the FOX LOCAL Mobile app for iOS or Android
It was the sixth time Piazza's car had been towed since she bought it in 2023.
"All these things were going wrong with it pretty much as soon as I bought it," said Piazza.
Dig deeper
Last year, Piazza showed Contact 6 the many problems with her 2007 GMC Acadia.
"It'll probably drive home, but along the way, who knows what will happen," Piazza said in 2024.
Piazza paid $6,000 for the car. Then, came the repair bills for its battery, sensors, fuel injectors and more.
"Thousands and thousands of dollars later, it still wasn't running," said Piazza.
After seeing a Contact 6 report about odometer fraud, Piazza got a CARFAX. The salon owner made a troubling discovery. In 2020, her car had 206,000 miles listed. In 2024, her odometer showed nearly 115,000 miles.
What's next
An investigator for the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) got to work.
"He did a very good investigation. He talked to every single person who owned the car, where they got it, whether they saw it on Craiglist," said Piazza.
SIGN UP TODAY: Get daily headlines, breaking news emails from FOX6 News
The investigation report says the car's odometer was altered at least three years ago. The investigator spoke with two of the car's former owners on the phone, who either bought or sold the car on Craigslist.
A third owner of the vehicle mailed the DOT a response to a questionnaire. He said he had no records from the sale. The state closed the case saying, without knowing who the man sold the car to, it could not "establish a clear chain-of-ownership nor a clear mileage history."
The Source
The information in this post comes from WisDOT, Piazza and CARFAX.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Yahoo
Los Angeles Craigslist ad for paid protesters a prank, podcast host says
The Brief A Craigslist ad appeared to be offering thousands of dollars to people volunteering to protest in Los Angeles. The ad was posted the day before thousands began protesting in downtown Los Angeles against ICE and President Donald Trump's immigration policies. The advertisement was reportedly a prank, according to the podcast host who made the listing. LOS ANGELES - Protests against ICE and President Donald Trump's immigration policies have continued for days in downtownLos Angeles, with the president calling in the National Guard and hundreds of Marines to control the demonstrations. Now, a recent ad posted on a Los Angeles-area Craigslist forum is at the center of controversy. Some are using the ad as proof that protesters are being paid, but the man who made the listing now says the whole thing was a prank for a podcast. RELATED: LA ICE protests, Day 5: Demonstrators gather again as tensions continue to run high What we know An ad popped up on the Los Angeles Craigslist forum for general labor jobs late last week. The listing was looking for "the toughest bad***es in the city," offering to pay them $6,500 to $12,500 a week. "We are forming a select team of THE TOUGHEST dudes in the area. This unit will be activated only when the situation demands it — BUT YOU GET PAID EVERY WEEK NO MATTER WHAT," the now-deleted ad reads. "High-pressure, high-risk, no room for hesitation. We need individuals who do not break, panic, or fold under stress and are basically all around kick*** dudes." The listing said it was looking for people with military experience, "except for Marines, we don't work with Marines anymore, long story," and people with "experience facing trained opposition." The backstory A day after the Craigstlist ad was posted, massive protests broke out in downtown Los Angeles to speak out against multiple ICE raids across the region. Protests continued throughout the weekend and into the next week in Los Angeles, Paramount and Orange County. SUGGESTED: Newsom fires back at Trump over deployment of National Guard in LA Trump has since deployed the National Guard and several hundred Marines to the area to try and disperse the protesters. California Gov. Gavin Newsom has sued the Trump administration over the move, but a federal judge on Tuesday denied Newsom's request to block the deployment. But the advertisement was not related to these immigration protests in Los Angeles at all. It was apparently a prank. What they're saying Joey LaFleur posted the ad. He hosts a prank show called "Goofcon1." LaFleur told the Associated Press that he "had no idea it was ever going to be connected to the riots. It was really a weird coincidence." SUGGESTED: Trump defends decision to 'SEND IN THE TROOPS' amid LA protests In a livestream the day after the post, LaFleur said he'd posted another similar ad in a forum in the Austin, Texas, area. The other side On his Truth Social account on Sunday, Trump posted simply "paid insurrectionists," amid a flurry of posts about the LA protests. While it was unclear if Trump knew about the Craigslist ad, many people shared screenshots of the listing on social media, claiming it was proof of paid rioters. "JUST ANNOUNCED: CALIFORNIA RIOT IS A FUNDED OPERATION," read one X post, adding that "President Trump was right about everything." "Accidentally goofed the entire nation on the latest @goofcon1," LaFleur said in an Instagram story, addressing the Craigslist ad. The Source Information in this story is from an unlisted Craigstlist ad, a YouTube stream from the "Goofcon1" channel, an interview between podcast host Joey LaFleur and the Associated Press, comments made by President Donald Trump at Fort Bragg on June 10, 2025, a June 8, 2025, Truth Social post from Trump and other social media posts about the Craigslist ad.
San Francisco Chronicle
14 hours ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
FACT FOCUS: A Craigslist ad is not proof of paid protesters in LA. It was posted as a prank
As demonstrations in Los Angeles over immigration raids unfolded in recent days, social media users falsely cited a Craigslist ad as evidence that protesters had been paid to participate. 'We are forming a select team of THE TOUGHEST dudes in the area,' the ad, which is no longer live, read. 'This unit will be activated only when the situation demands it — BUT YOU GET PAID EVERY WEEK NO MATTER WHAT. high-pressure, high-risk, no room for hesitation. We need individuals who do not break, panic, or fold under stress and are basically kickass dudes.' It offered $6,500-$12,500 in compensation per week. Here's a closer look at the facts. CLAIM: A Craigslist ad seeking 'the toughest badasses in the city' is proof that Los Angeles demonstrations over immigration raids are made up of paid protesters. THE FACTS: This is false. The ad, which appeared in Craigslist's Los Angeles section for general labor jobs, was bait for a prank show and had nothing to do with the protests in Los Angeles, the ad's creator told The Associated Press. It was posted on Thursday, the day before the protests began. In a livestreamed episode on Friday, the show's hosts called and spoke with people who responded to the ad. 'I literally had no idea it was ever going to be connected to the riots. It was a really weird coincidence,' said Joey LaFleur, who posted the ad on Craigslist. The ad was developed as part of a new prank show called 'Goofcon1,' said LaFleur, who hosts the podcast with Logan Quiroz. On their show Friday, the day protests began, they spoke live on the phone with people who responded during Goofcon1's third episode. LaFleur noted during the episode that he also posted a more 'militaristic' version of the ad in Craigslist's Austin section, but didn't get many responses. Screenshots of the ad were used in social media posts on multiple platforms, cited as proof that those involved in the Los Angeles protests had been paid. The posts gained tens of thousands of likes, shares, and views. 'CALIFORNIA RIOT IS A FUNDED OPERATION,' reads one X post sharing the ad. 'Destabilizing the Trump administration and the United States in general is the goal. Then, they receive billions of federal funding to 'fix' the damage and pocket the money.' A TikTok video sharing the ad viewed approximately 14,100 times called protesters 'paid agitators' who are turning 'what was initially a peaceful protest of just marching into a full-blown riot.' Others pointed to the ad as evidence that the protests 'aren't organic' or have been faked by Democrats. 'Accidentally goofed the entire nation on the latest @goofcon1,' one post reads. In another, he muses: 'I don't really know what to do with any of this. I guess get on Newsmax, or something. If I get on Newsmax, that could be funny.' False claims about paid protesters regularly spread around demonstrations, especially those that attract national or international attention. Similar false claims spread widely in 2020 during demonstrations over George Floyd's death at the hands of Minneapolis police.
Yahoo
14 hours ago
- Yahoo
FACT FOCUS: A Craigslist ad is not proof of paid protesters in LA. It was posted as a prank
As demonstrations in Los Angeles over immigration raids unfolded in recent days, social media users falsely cited a Craigslist ad as evidence that protesters had been paid to participate. 'We are forming a select team of THE TOUGHEST dudes in the area,' the ad, which is no longer live, read. 'This unit will be activated only when the situation demands it — BUT YOU GET PAID EVERY WEEK NO MATTER WHAT. high-pressure, high-risk, no room for hesitation. We need individuals who do not break, panic, or fold under stress and are basically kickass dudes.' It offered $6,500-$12,500 in compensation per week. But the ad was a prank, it is not related to the Los Angeles protests. Here's a closer look at the facts. CLAIM: A Craigslist ad seeking 'the toughest badasses in the city' is proof that Los Angeles demonstrations over immigration raids are made up of paid protesters. THE FACTS: This is false. The ad, which appeared in Craigslist's Los Angeles section for general labor jobs, was bait for a prank show and had nothing to do with the protests in Los Angeles, the ad's creator told The Associated Press. It was posted on Thursday, the day before the protests began. In a livestreamed episode on Friday, the show's hosts called and spoke with people who responded to the ad. 'I literally had no idea it was ever going to be connected to the riots. It was a really weird coincidence,' said Joey LaFleur, who posted the ad on Craigslist. The ad was developed as part of a new prank show called 'Goofcon1,' said LaFleur, who hosts the podcast with Logan Quiroz. On their show Friday, the day protests began, they spoke live on the phone with people who responded during Goofcon1's third episode. LaFleur noted during the episode that he also posted a more 'militaristic' version of the ad in Craigslist's Austin section, but didn't get many responses. Screenshots of the ad were used in social media posts on multiple platforms, cited as proof that those involved in the Los Angeles protests had been paid. The posts gained tens of thousands of likes, shares, and views. 'CALIFORNIA RIOT IS A FUNDED OPERATION,' reads one X post sharing the ad. 'Destabilizing the Trump administration and the United States in general is the goal. Then, they receive billions of federal funding to 'fix' the damage and pocket the money.' A TikTok video sharing the ad viewed approximately 14,100 times called protesters 'paid agitators' who are turning 'what was initially a peaceful protest of just marching into a full-blown riot.' Others pointed to the ad as evidence that the protests 'aren't organic' or have been faked by Democrats. After screenshots of the ad spread on social media, LaFleur posted about the confusion on his Instagram story multiple times. 'Accidentally goofed the entire nation on the latest @goofcon1,' one post reads. In another, he muses: 'I don't really know what to do with any of this. I guess get on Newsmax, or something. If I get on Newsmax, that could be funny.' False claims about paid protesters regularly spread around demonstrations, especially those that attract national or international attention. Similar false claims spread widely in 2020 during demonstrations over George Floyd's death at the hands of Minneapolis police. ___ Find AP Fact Checks here:
