Online fraud involving second-hand cars

 

Consumers looking for a used car in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland (DACH countries) may believe they’d found their dream car, only to wake up to a nightmare. The new scam involves extremely believable product listings complete with pictures stolen from authentic dealers’ websites and unmissable deals. Find out how it works and how to avoid it!

 

 

The market for used cars

The market for second-hand cars is experiencing a significant boom. Currently valued at $1.9 trillion worldwide, the market is projected to reach $2.7 trillion by 2030. This boom is driven by various factors, including a shift to a more eco-conscious lifestyle and the current economic uncertainties many consumers face.

 

A recent survey discovered that consumers prefer long-term reliability in a used car, which makes Lexus, Toyota, Mazda, Honda, and Acura the most popular brands in this market segment.

 

 

Illustration of a young couple buying a car at a dealership

 

 

Another important factor is the connection between price and brand awareness. Buying a second-hand model of a coveted, high-priced car like Audi or Mercedes is definitely more affordable than getting it new, which is why it may appeal to loyal fans of these brands. And this is exactly what scammers are building on.

 

 

The scam

Fraudsters in the DACH region have taken to copying websites of official used car dealers. Audi, Mercedes, and Volkswagen have already issued statements, warning consumers about the scams, but even more brands are likely affected by this fraud.

 

Find out how and why brands should educate their consumers about scams!

 

The fakeshops are very convincing. They use a professional design (possibly aided by Shopify, Magento, or any other e-Commerce provider), with images, product catalogues, and listings stolen from official dealers. Some even feature copied pictures of actual employees working at the official dealerships. However, the similarities to authentic shops end here.

 

All listings promise unbelievably great deals for consumers who are fast enough to jump on “unmissable” prices. The contact information given on these sites leads to fraudsters who will demand that would-be buyers make an instant downpayment to secure the car at the advertised price.

 

 

Illustration of cars waiting to be sold in a dealership

 

 

The amount of money consumers have to pay before even seeing the car varies from a few thousand euros to the full sales price. And once the money is sent, the fraudsters disappear. No wonder: they never had a car to sell in the first place.

 

When investigating this fraud, we discovered that some of these fake shops used domain names that closely resembled the domains of authentic dealers. This builds on existing consumer trust towards established second-hand car dealerships, as consumers could mistakenly believe they’re actually in touch with a well-known dealer.

 

The results are devastating for consumers, car dealers, and brands alike. The loss of money may be crippling for consumers already on a tight budget, and the loss of trust as well as revenue affects brands and second-hand car dealers quite negatively.

 

Find out how your reputation contributes to consumer trust!

 

 

How to protect yourself against second-hand car fraud

Luckily, there are several ways for consumers and brands to protect themselves against fraud involving second-hand cars.

 

 

Advice for consumers

First of all, while you may be used to ordering previously unseen products online, a used car is definitely an item that shouldn’t be purchased without a thorough in-person inspection. This is true even if the car you’re buying actually exists - you should always be aware of the exact condition and potential issues of the car before making a purchase. Long story short: don’t buy a car without checking it in person first.

 

Honest second-hand car dealers don’t ask for prepayments before showing you the car. Therefore, if someone wants you to wire them money just so that they’d hold the car before you take a look at it, that’s definitely a red flag, and you shouldn’t send them any money in advance.

 

| Don’t buy a car without checking it in person first

 

Check the contact information of the dealership. Do a Google search to see whether the phone number they’d provided is indeed registered to a legitimate car dealership, and take a look at their email address. Is the part after the @ spelled correctly and corresponds to the name of the dealership? If not, you may have come across a scam.

 

If you’re not sure whether the website of the car dealership is genuine, take a look at the site of the manufacturer of your chosen car. Some brands display the contact information of their authorized second-hand dealers, which is a good database to check any dealership’s website against.

 

| Check the contact information of the dealership

 

In case you fall victim to a scam, you should immediately contact your bank to stop or potentially reverse any payment you made, and then get in touch with the police and file a report. Any communications you had with the fake dealership are evidence, which is why it’s best to save everything and even take screenshots of the original listings.

 

Discover our screenshotting tool, screenseal, that provides you with court-admissible evidence!

 

 

Advice for brands

The first course of action you should take is definitely inform your customers. Post an up-to-date database of licensed second-hand dealers on your website to ensure that no fraudsters can trick your customers into believing they’re the real thing.

 

However, that’s not enough. It’s important that you stay on top of any potential infringements to protect your customers and to ensure that no fraudsters can steal your rightful revenue by infringing on your IP rights.

 

To achieve that, you need a comprehensive online brand protection program with strong domain monitoring. globaleyez’s state-of-the-art software tool, domainiac, is perfect for detecting potentially infringing websites based on keywords found in their domain names, meta content, and even HTML text.

 

As fraudsters usually publish their listings with copied or stolen images, a round of image monitoring may also be necessary to catch any isolated offers on online marketplaces. infrimage, our dedicated image monitoring tool, detects copyrighted pictures and their copied versions anywhere online.

 

Some fraudsters operate alone, but a surprising number of fraudulent offers are actually connected. We at globaleyez are committed to detecting these connections because that allows us to become more efficient when dealing with infringements. That’s why we also conduct OSINT research when investigating the origins of seemingly independent yet surprisingly similar fraudulent listings.

 

Finally, we enforce your rights and ensure the removal of any infringing content from the internet. In the case of fake car dealerships, this involves the takedown or blocking of the domain name, and in specific instances, even blocking the payment options these dealers operate with. This ensures that no transactions can go through and fraudsters can’t take the money of unsuspecting consumers.

 

Related topics

Fraud alert: Scammers trick customers on Vinted

 

Counterfeit education on brand websites

 

The increasing risk of counterfeit car parts

 

 

Conclusion

The used car market provides lucrative opportunities for brands, consumers, and sellers - but not only honest ones. Protect your business and your customers from the devastating losses caused by second-hand car fraud!

 

Contact us and let’s discuss the best way to protect your IP rights online