Previously, 700Credit examined how much fraud might be happening at motorcycle dealerships, so the provider of credit reports, compliance solutions, soft pull and identity verification products decided to examine what’s going on with RV retailers.

And, unfortunately, 700Credit found similar patterns when compiling results generated from an industry-wide survey of RV dealers and their processes for securing customer data during test drives, obtaining copies of consumers drivers’ licenses, and placing those copies in the deal jacket.

RV dealers face multiple fraud scenarios and other significant challenges, according to 700Cedit, which highlighted these findings from six categories, including:

Capturing driver’s license data

—Only 17% of dealers are storing driver’s license copies in an electronic deal jacket, and 50% are still using paper deal jackets.

—More than 50% of dealers are either making paper copies of licenses, taking a picture of licenses with employee’s phones or having customers email copies to employees. These trends are alarming and both speak to the lack of consumer data privacy per Safeguards mandates.

Synthetic fraud awareness

—67.1% of respondents are familiar with synthetic fraud, but only 25% understand how synthetic IDs are created.

—33% of dealers are completely unfamiliar with synthetic fraud, indicating a significant knowledge gap in the industry.

Vehicle theft

—30.3% of dealers reported having an RV stolen due to fake identity or synthetic fraud in the past 12 months.

—21.3% of dealers experienced RV theft due to key fob swaps within the same period.

Test drive security

—Only 25% of dealerships require salespeople to accompany customers on all test drives (another 32% said they “sometimes” accompany on test drives).

—27.6% do not require accompaniment, leaving potential security vulnerabilities.

Identity verification practices

—26.3% of dealers still rely on simple photocopies of driver’s licenses for test drives.

—Only 4% validate driver’s licenses against DMV databases, the most secure method available.

Financial impact

—18.4% of dealers had to buy back at least one RV from their lender due to a fraudulent loan application in the past year.

Ken Hill, managing director of 700Credit, acknowledged the RV industry has seen significant growth over the past decade as more people seek the freedom and adventure that RV life offers. However, Hill also pointed out that with this growth comes an increasing responsibility for RV dealers to protect customer data, particularly during processes like test drives and sales transactions.

Hill said dealers often collect sensitive personal information, such as driver’s licenses, often without following compliant procedures for data privacy laws. He said these scenarios often create vulnerabilities not only in the form of data breaches but also in increasing incidents of synthetic ID fraud.

These issues can result in finance company chargebacks, which are financially and operationally problematic for RV dealerships, according to Hill.

“The results of this survey are a wake-up call for the RV industry,” Hill said. “It’s clear that many dealers are still not adequately prepared to properly manage sensitive consumer data privacy, nor are they equipped to combat sophisticated fraud techniques. We urge all RV dealers to reassess their security protocols and implement more robust identity verification systems.”