The FBI arrested 17 people on March 31 and charged them with rolling back the odometers on thousands of cars, then reselling the vehicles for more than they were worth, scamming car dealerships out of more than $7.5 million, according to a report from the Associated Press.

In raids dubbed "Operation Rollback," FBI agents capped a 15-month investigation by arresting suspects in New Jersey, New York, and Maryland.

The case began when a Bloomfield, NJ, auto dealership told local police that 45 cars on its lot were discovered to have tampered odometers.

Authorities said the ring bought more than 1,000 vehicles from public auctions in New Jersey, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee, according to the Associated Press. After the odometer tampering, the vehicles were resold to dealers and individual buyers.

If the vehicle's odometer was an older style, ring members would allegedly alter the mileage reading manually using a small instrument similar to a screwdriver.

If the odometer was digital, the vehicle would be taken to a Brooklyn auto glass business where ring members allegedly would use laptop computers with software applications that could roll back the mileage reading, according to the Associated Press article. In addition, the ring allegedly altered vehicle titles to reflect the lower mileage readings.