Car leasing social media scam

Illegitimate Vehicle Leasing Schemes And Fake Weblinks 

In the latest incidents, scammers publish vehicle-leasing opportunities on social platforms to unsuspicious buyers seeking car rentals on their devices or laptops, often found on the top links in Google searches.

The fraudsters pay for such advertising on top channels like Instagram to attract buyers with poor credit ratings into schemes highlighting "no credit checks, no deposits and direct messages through text to get the offer." 

How Does It Happen?

The sites are often third-party portals, not affiliated with top brands, offering illegitimate plans, and their function is to select the car – model, city and term. Customers who select the type of car get an email stating it cannot be reserved online.

The website provides a toll-free number, and the user may be asked to search for an agent to get a special rate over the phone. They may ask for payment through a gift card or Visa card.

Then, they call on the phone to ask for the number written on the back of the card, and after getting the number, the fraudster provides a bogus rental confirmation number.  

How To Spot It?

Any legitimate broker will adhere to the rules of FCA, where they need to carry out credit checks before giving any loan. 
The criminals target vulnerable people by convincing them and even posing as members of legitimate groups.

They post misleading messages regarding the prices, leasing terms, warranties, financing and repair/maintenance of newly purchased or new cars. When there is dissatisfaction with the service of the auto repair or problems with a gas station or oil company, they offer to solve problems.

They may pose as auto repair, providing cheap, unnecessary repairs or simple repair work and using counterfeit parts to extract the victims' money. 

Dishonest dealerships hide unnecessary products or services in their leases or lie about the customer's credit score to charge heavily on minor repairs. They sell extended warranties and ask to make payments through cards – that are untraceable.

How To Protect Yourself? 

• Top car rental sites have issued notices asking clients not to accept such promotional offers. 

• Before buying or leasing, check the history and review of the dealer. All the guarantees offered by such dealers never happen. Check the consumers' testimonials about the site, and if it has a history of hiking rates or indulging in fraudulent activities, avoid it. 

• Most legitimate car rental firms have warned against payment through gift cards or other untraceable payment methods.

• They have added a new FAQ section on their websites for the users who seek rental information, and they also ask customers to book directly or through licensed travel agencies to avoid scams.

• In addition, they issued alert pages, and the FTC published a bulletin on such bogus offers to generate awareness.