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Car Sharing Service Car2Go was out of service in the Chicago area Friday after dozens of its vehicles had been stolen via the app this week.
Nearly 100 cars were reported missing on Wednesday, confirmed the Chicago Police Department. Most cars have since been found, but a Car2Go representative said the Chicago vehicles had been decommissioned until further notice.
Police indicted 21 suspects for stolen vehicles.
"The Chicago Police Service has been alerted by a car rental company that some of their vehicles may have been rented by deceptive or fraudulent means via a mobile app," said a police spokesman. Chicago. "Thanks to the information provided by the company, many vehicles have been recovered. The investigation is ongoing. "
Car2Go tweeted that no other city was affected by the incident and that the incident was not a hacking but an "example of fraud".
"We are working with law enforcement to neutralize a fraud problem," the company said. "No personal or confidential information about members has been compromised. As a precaution, we are temporarily suspending our service in Chicago. "
Car2go was launched in Chicago in June 2018, where it offered Mercedes-Benz CLA and GLA vehicles in addition to smart miniature cars.
This week's violation highlights broader security issues related to shared driving applications, said Nathan Wenzler, senior director of cyber security at Moss Adams.
"It's enough for a malicious user to use a fake identity badociated with stolen credit card information from another person. He can also create an account and use one of these cars without having obvious personal information that can be used to identify fraudsters. ," he said.
According to a report published in 2017 by the Transportation Sustainability Research Center at the University of California at Berkeley, the theft and vandalism of shared vehicles, including cars, bicycles and scooters, pose a major business challenge sector. Insurance premiums for policies with $ 1-2 million liability limits and $ 500 to $ 1,000 deductibles ranged from $ 1,200 to $ 6,000 per vehicle-year, according to the study.
The high cost and lack of insurance options available has given many car sharing companies a difficult start by entering new markets. RelayRides, now called Turo, was fined $ 200,000 in 2014 for misleading advertising, unlicensed insurance and other violations, and ordered to cease operations. In 2017, Enterprise withdrew its Chicago car-sharing service after "significant acts of vandalism, theft and fraud" in the market.
Ippei Takahashi, an badyst at the RideGuru comparison site, says many companies in the industry are struggling to balance security, thoroughness and security.
"In online markets and in concert halls with applications, the concept of online identity has always been vague and a source of concern," he said. "Add to that the lack of maintenance of order by real people, we have a playground where crooks can flourish".
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