It started with a notification from the state of Florida.
Someone had changed information associated with RNR Tire Express on the Florida Secretary of State’s website.
At first, the change seemed strange but manageable. The company corrected the information and moved on.
Then it happened again.
As part of APRO’s Cyber Scares: Real Stories from Rent-to-Own series for Cybersecurity Awareness Month, APRO is revisiting a real-world fraud scheme shared by RNR Tire Express Chief Operating Officer Matthew Warren, in which someone repeatedly altered the company’s public records, impersonated a corporate officer, and attempted to use that false identity to cash stolen checks.
The Company Record Kept Changing
RNR Tire Express normally updated its Florida corporate registration at the beginning of the year, so receiving a notification about a change in the middle of the year immediately seemed unusual.
The company logged in, saw that the information had been altered, and changed it back.
Florida’s system allowed another update only after 24 hours. The next day, another notification arrived.
The company information had been changed again.
This time, there was a new address and a different person listed as an officer of the company. The address pointed to an unfamiliar location, and the name did not belong to anyone RNR Tire Express recognized.
After correcting the information again, the company contacted the state and requested that its information be locked so changes could not be made without specific authorization.
They thought that was the end of it.
It wasn’t.
The Bigger Scheme Comes into Focus
RNR Tire Express later discovered that someone had also intercepted company mail containing checks.
The person was changing the officer listed in the company’s public registration to match their own identity, then taking the stolen checks to banks and attempting to cash them while posing as an authorized company representative.
The scheme began to unravel when a bank noticed the unusual activity.
A bank employee reviewing one of the attempted deposits looked at the company’s state registration and saw that the officer information had been changing back and forth every few days. That unusual history raised enough concern for the bank to contact law enforcement.
Investigators were then able to see that RNR Tire Express had requested a lock on its company information, and the person impersonating the company was ultimately arrested.
The fallout did not end there. Warren said the incident involved a significant amount of stolen checks and required attorneys and others to become involved as the company worked through the situation.
Pay Attention to the Accounts Outside Your Walls
When people think about protecting a business online, internal systems, employee email, and company computers often come to mind first.
Matthew’s experience shows why businesses should also pay attention to the external accounts and public records connected to the company.
State registrations, vendor platforms, financial accounts, cloud services, domain registrations, and other third-party systems can all contain information or permissions that affect how a business operates.
Warren’s biggest recommendation was simple: know what information is on file, keep it current, and make sure someone is actually watching for changes.
For rent-to-own businesses, his experience offers several practical reminders:
- Keep company registration information current. Review state business records and other important external accounts regularly.
- Turn on available alerts. Warren said RNR Tire Express received notifications when its company information changed, which helped expose the unusual activity.
- Send alerts to someone who will see them. A notification only helps if it reaches a person responsible for reviewing and acting on it.
- Investigate unexpected changes immediately. A change that seems minor may be the first sign of a larger fraud attempt.
- Use additional account protections where available. If a platform allows information to be locked or changes to require additional authorization, consider using those protections.
- Review who has access to important business accounts. Remove unnecessary permissions and update access promptly when roles change.
- Protect account credentials. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) recommends long, random, unique passwords, password managers, and multifactor authentication wherever available.
Warren also stressed the importance of knowing what options are available through your state agency if suspicious activity occurs and working with authorities when fraud is suspected.
This Week’s Cyber Habit: Protect the Keys to Your Digital Business
Cybersecurity does not stop at the office firewall.
Your company’s digital footprint extends into government registries, financial systems, vendor portals, cloud platforms, and other external accounts. Knowing where those digital doors are, who has the keys, and what happens when something changes can make suspicious activity easier to spot.
As Warren put it, people often associate identity theft with stolen credit cards. His company’s experience was different: someone tried to impersonate the business itself.
That makes monitoring, alerts, and access controls more than administrative housekeeping. They can become an early-warning system.
Watch the Full Story and Keep Learning
Hear the full Online Hijinx story directly from Matthew Warren, Chief Operating Officer of RNR Tire Express Franchise, as he recounts how unusual changes to the company’s public records ultimately revealed a much larger fraud scheme.
Then continue the conversation with APRO’s Cyber Insurance Demystified: What You Need Before the Breach on October 28, 2026, from 10–11 AM CT. Strong account protections can reduce risk, but cybersecurity preparation also includes understanding what happens when defenses fail. The webinar will explore cyber insurance coverage, common gaps, changing underwriting expectations, and considerations businesses should understand before an incident occurs.
About RNR Tire Express
Founded in 2000 in Tampa, Florida, RNR Tire Express is a national rent-to-own tire-and-wheel dealer and franchise system offering tires, custom wheels, and related automotive services through flexible rental-purchase options. The company has grown to more than 200 locations across 31 states. RNR Tire Express has been an APRO member since 2001.
