Luke, let's just say it's a lot worse than a simple couple of years on a VIN tag. I can't go into it further at this point in time though. The seller was absolutely aware. Useful Info for others reading this... The seller does not need to be aware for you to recover your funds. There was a recent case where a seller sold a Falcon GT to a guy in Sydney. It turned out to be a rebirthed car. Seller genuinely didn't appear to know. Court accepted seller didn't know it was a fake and awarded buyer $108,394.04 plus costs on top. The case name for those interested is Sammut v De Rome [2011] QDC 294.
Second case is Cassar v Pegoraro [2011] VCC 819. In a nutshell, a plumber sold a fake XY GT, which he knew was a fake. Buyer took him to court and won $81,688.78. In a corresponding criminal trial he got 12 months gaol to be suspended after 3 months. What this means is he went to gaol for 3 months then released on parole for the remainder.