Vehicle export scam - anyone know more?

[hgb]

A friend of mine advertised his W220 S-class for sale recently and a chap was round almost immediately offering the full asking price in cash. Not to look a gift horse in the mouth he agreed the sale and then the buyer asked him to pop the V5 slip in the post (rather than take it with him). Friend thought that odd but wasn't too bothered as he was going to register the sale online.
Next day angry buyer on the phone asking why he had gone online rather than putting the V5 in the post as he had asked. Friend gave him short shrift but it turns out he was trying to ship the car overseas and couldn't because the change of ownership was in progress.
We both assume it was some kind of scam and the idea was that if anything went wrong they would look for the registered owner (my friend) not the buyer.
Anyone know anything about schemes like this? Any similar war stories?

 

[MrGreedy]

Sounds like he did the right thing.
Anyone buying a car from my hoping they might be able to hood wink me into breaking the law for their benefit will be disappointed.
I would refer the kind gentleman buyer to the following website and ask him why he was asking me to break the law?

Q916: What information do I need to provide to the DVLA if I sell my car?

In fact, maybe the matter should be reported to the police anyway. Could be the tip of a major crime syndicate.

 

[MrGreedy]

I watch too much crime drama

 

[hgb]

One positive thing to take from this is that the DVLA online service really does work. In t'old days it would have taken a few days for them to update the database and then cascade those changes to ports etc. Seems it is pretty much instantaneous now

 

[markjay]

The buyer might have been really trying to export it, I don't know.

But I wouldn't agree to sell a car without reporting it to the DVLA. Setting aside any scams, I don't fancy getting speeding and parking tickets in the post.

 

[Deleted member 37751]

If the guy was exporting it, he should/would have asked for the full logbook minus the blue “export” section which your mate would have filled in and sent off.

I doubt there was anything too nefarious going on with an old smoker like a W220...

 

[poormansporsche]

Might have just wanted to drive it to the port on your tax and insurance

 

[DSM10000]

Might have just wanted to drive it to the port on your tax and insurance

Had this when I sold the C Class to a "Gentleman" of Nigerian origin (alarm bells should have sounded sooner for other reasons), he wanted me to send the V5 off by post, and his parting comment was to ask me to not cancel my RFL and Insurance for 6 hours!

Needless to say, they were canceled and the transfer completed within 5 minutes of him driving off.

I checked the status of the car some weeks later and it was listed as "Exported" by the DVLA.

 

[markjay]

Had this when I sold the C Class to a "Gentleman" of Nigerian origin (alarm bells should have sounded sooner for other reasons), he wanted me to send the V5 off by post, and his parting comment was to ask me to not cancel my RFL and Insurance for 6 hours!

Needless to say, they were canceled and the transfer completed within 5 minutes of him driving off.

I checked the status of the car some weeks later and it was listed as "Exported" by the DVLA.

Asking you not to cancel the policy means they won't get pulled over by ANPR due to the car showing up on MID as uninsured, but they are still driving without insurance as your policy won't be covering them.

 

[horatio]

It’s easy to freak, these buyers seem iffy because of all the scams but Mercs are very commonly purchased for export and often these are actually the easiest sales. Selling some models (esp.near London) it’s a near certainty it will be bought to ship out. I have sold a few for export and each time it was: brief glance over car, hand over cash, gone. I have sent a few cars abroad to ex pat relatives myself.

 

[Tonygw]

One scam to be very wary of these days is where the buyer agrees to the full asking price and agrees to transfer the money into your account. But the transfer will be from a business rather than his personal account. What they do is fraudulently get approved on a loan from a loan company which is taken out in your name. So the buyer picks up the car, you have the money but actually you have just been loaned the money, 2 months later when the loan company receive no monthly repayment from you they give you a call.. then you will KNOW what's happened!!!!...

Be careful out there.

 

[DSM10000]

Asking you not to cancel the policy means they won't get pulled over by ANPR due to the car showing up on MID as uninsured, but they are still driving without insurance as your policy won't be covering them.

Yes Mark, fortunately I knew that , however the database doesn't update until late evening (I checked). I wanted a timed response and reference number from our insurers to counter any claim!

If they have an accident whilst your insurance cover is still extant then you can be claimed against on your policy.

 

[tylerdurden]

One scam to be very wary of these days is where the buyer agrees to the full asking price and agrees to transfer the money into your account. But the transfer will be from a business rather than his personal account. What they do is fraudulently get approved on a loan from a loan company which is taken out in your name. So the buyer picks up the car, you have the money but actually you have just been loaned the money, 2 months later when the loan company receive no monthly repayment from you they give you a call.. then you will KNOW what's happened!!!!...

Be careful out there.

How can one prevent that?

 

[markjay]

How can one prevent that?

The scam is basically identity fraud, and protecting against it is no different to other identity fraud scams.

Use services such as Credit Karma or Experian etc which will show if someone is carrying-out hard credit searches in your name.

BTW, the bank will cancel the loan once you report it as fraud, so you don't have to pay it back, but the car is another matter - I don't think you can technically report it stolen and collect from your insurance, i.e. the fraudsters might now legally have the title to the car as you agreed the sale, and the fact that they owe you the money for the car (and that they have committed identity fraud) might be seen as a separate legal issue.

On the plus side, this fraud requires elaborate planning, so you're probably safe if you're selling an old banger for beer money - they wouldn't bother

 

[bob6600]

One scam to be very wary of these days is where the buyer agrees to the full asking price and agrees to transfer the money into your account. But the transfer will be from a business rather than his personal account. What they do is fraudulently get approved on a loan from a loan company which is taken out in your name. So the buyer picks up the car, you have the money but actually you have just been loaned the money, 2 months later when the loan company receive no monthly repayment from you they give you a call.. then you will KNOW what's happened!!!!...

Be careful out there.

Someone else told me about something similar. There were (are?) loans being granted very easily to businesses due to Covid. Some 'Companies' were not very old and they folded once the money is received, probably with bogus details. The other one is the one you mentioned.