Reduce Rental Car Theft

The staff at Budget® Car Rental Las Vegas found themselves in another unfortunate predicament—yet another call to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. This call was the same as the calls before.

“We need to report that another one of our cars has been stolen.”
— BUDGET® CAR RENTAL STAFF

“We need to report that another one of our cars has been stolen." The staff thought it may be another issue of a fake ID, as the vehicle had not been returned. The police department recommended Veridocs.

Most people who rent a car in Las Vegas do so in good faith, but 39 million visited the area in 2022, with over 4 million of those visitors renting cars. Even if just a tiny fraction of those visitors end up being bad actors, it can cause big problems for car rental companies. Budget is the largest car rental franchise in greater Las Vegas and has a vested interest in being certain about their customer’s identities.

Car renters in the US need two things: a valid driver’s license and, if international, a passport, and a credit card. But what can rental agencies do when the driver’s ID is a fake, created to match a stolen credit card?

Counterfeit IDs have gotten significantly easier to come by and increasingly sophisticated. With a few clicks, anyone can purchase or create a real-looking driver’s license that matches the name on a stolen credit card. For Budget® operating in Las Vegas, their operations are complicated by the need to check IDs from all over the United States and around the world. It was impossible to keep track of security features on multiple license designs from all 50 states, not to mention numerous international documents.

Vehicle losses were adding up and Budget needed a way to stop the thefts as well as protect those whose identities had been stolen by these criminals. They reached out to Veridocs to install TrueAuthentication at all 9 of their area locations, which in total rent out hundreds of cars per day.

“It’s a fast, easy way to flag counterfeit IDs and stop fraudulent activity before it starts.”

Veridocs is now the first line of defense against fraud for Budget®. Each agent scans a customer’s ID as soon as they arrive at the rental counter. It’s a fast, easy way to flag counterfeit IDs and stop fraudulent activity before it starts. Daily spot checks of ID scans by management further ensure that the system is running smoothly through the audit functionality of Veridocs.

“I would absolutely recommend Veridocs to other companies”
— SCOTT KREIT, GENERAL MANAGER

Rental car theft dropped dramatically after the TrueAuthentication installation. That means fewer headaches, more inventory, and increased peace of mind for agents and management. Agency employees don’t have to guess if an ID is valid with only a visual inspection. Instead, each ID is checked against Veridocs’ vast, up-to date library of US identity documents. In real time, the agent knows if the transaction should proceed as normal.

The benefits of installing Veridocs reach beyond theft, too. If a rental vehicle is involved in an accident, exporting relevant ID and scan information in PDF form is simple and streamlined for reporting to law enforcement.

“It’s fantastic. The technology is very useful and helpful. It made everything a lot easier and less time-consuming,” says Scott Kreit, general manager for Budget Rental Cars Las Vegas. Customer service and responsiveness are two more reasons Veridocs stands out for Budget Las Vegas.

“Setting up a new computer at a new location is easy, and it’s rare to run into any issues,” says EV Manager and IT Manager Ethan Aldrich. “And if we do need help, the response is usually within an hour, but often less than that.”

“Jackie and her team have been fantastic. Any recommendations or changes we ask for, they immediately jump on it. Any issues we have, they’re on it immediately. It’s been a pleasure to work with them and I would absolutely recommend Veridocs to other companies,” says Scott Kreit.