How to avoid getting scammed when buying a car

The most common methods of deception in the car market

An article about the most common ways to deceive car buyers - scammers' schemes, how to protect yourself - tips and recommendations. At the end of the article there is a video about deception when buying a car.

The content of the article:

• Car trading is a tasty morsel for swindlers
• The most common fraudulent schemes
• Dangers awaiting the buyer
• How to protect yourself from scammers
• Video about being scammed when buying a car

At one time, the emergence of the automobile industry was provoked by the need for people to move faster. The demand for motor vehicles today is greater than ever, and this has pushed bankers to create new credit products, one of which is car lending. The oversaturation of the car market has caused the emergence of scammers of all kinds. How to protect yourself and not fall for the tricks of scammers when buying a car? This question worries many car enthusiasts today and those who just want to become one.

Car trading is a tasty morsel for swindlers

The number of scams committed during the sale of vehicles today is simply off the charts. One of the reasons for this lies in people's legal illiteracy. Meanwhile, scammers continue to invent more and more new deception schemes.

The simplest option for appropriating other people's money is a phone call during which the person is told that he has won a car. And you can get it after paying, well, just a very small fee. There are also more complex schemes when third parties are involved to carry out a fraudulent procedure and collateral cars are used.

There are car markets in almost every city now. The variety of car brands there is amazing. Used cars can also be bought online, in particular on the Avito website. There is also a danger of falling for scammers.

At the same time, they use a variety of methods of deception. Law enforcement agencies constantly warn citizens about the danger of fraud in the car market, but the number of those deceived is still not getting smaller. The reasons for this may be the following:

• desire to buy a car as quickly as possible;
• legal illiteracy;
• simplicity;
• inattention.

Sometimes the buyer's mind may be clouded by an offer that is simply impossible to refuse. The result of this is agreement to all conditions. Nowadays, fraudsters are increasingly using fraud with fake documents, so special attention should be paid to the reliability of the documentation.

The most common fraudulent schemes

Scammers have come up with many types of scams, but among them there are those that are used most often.

Car is pledged

It can happen like this: after buying a car, you discover that it was taken on credit. The scheme of the scam is as follows: a swindler issues a car loan to a third party. Of course, the PTS (vehicle passport) in this case remains with the lender. It is clear that without a passport it will not be possible to sell a car, but swindlers trick them into obtaining a duplicate of it.

As a rule, cars sold under this fraudulent scheme are sold at a bargain price, so buyers find them very quickly. While the client registers the car, the swindler is still repaying the loan. Then payments stop, bank managers begin to look for the car and find it with an astonished buyer, to whom no one will return the money after that.

How to protect yourself

Carefully study the title when purchasing a car. You should not conclude a deal if the seller can only provide copies of documents. You should definitely check whether your car is registered with the traffic police.

Giving a deposit

In this case, the attacker publishes an advertisement on the Internet for the sale of a car. Of course, it says that the car is in excellent condition, it is fully equipped and inexpensive.

Of course, there are more than enough people willing to make such a purchase. The crook arranges a meeting with each of them. In this case, the transaction is not completed immediately, but a date for its execution is set. The swindler explains this by the need to find all the documents and takes a deposit.

Needless to say, the next day it is no longer possible to reach the phone number left by the “seller”, it also does not appear at the appointed place, and, of course, you can’t even dream of returning the deposit.

How to protect yourself

To exclude the possibility of such deception, the transfer of collateral should be carried out only when the seller provides a receipt, which must indicate the details of his personal passport and car. You cannot transfer money to a card or online wallet - only from hand to hand. The passport data written on the receipt must be checked against the original. Don’t be embarrassed to ask the seller to show his passport.

Presence of hidden defects

Sometimes the joy after buying a car does not last long, and the buyer discovers the presence of serious defects. In some cases, the car turns out to be “damaged”, having been under water, and its mileage may be reduced. Unscrupulous sellers are able to disguise the defects of a car in such a way that their presence is discovered only after some time.

How to protect yourself

Here we can only advise you to inspect the car more carefully before purchasing it. If you are not confident in your competence, it is better to ask a specialist for help.

Deception by resellers

You should not deal with resellers; it is better to buy cars from their direct owners.

The deception scheme could be as follows: the seller himself does not meet with the buyer, but puts another person in his place, citing employment, for example.

How to protect yourself when purchasing

You should not buy a car if it is being sold not by the owner himself, but by his authorized representative. It is better to hold off on making such a transaction and wait until the owner of the car can be present in person.

"Air Sellers"

The seller talks colorfully and in detail about his car - he describes its advantages in all colors. All the details of the transaction are also actively discussed, but at the end of the conversation it turns out that at the moment the car is very far away, and there is no way to show it right now.

In this case, all documents for the vehicle are with the seller, and he is happy to provide them to the buyer. The seller promises to bring the car very soon and asks for an advance payment. Of course, he disappears with the money.

How to protect yourself from deception

In this case, you just need to refuse to complete the transaction. Sometimes the seller presents documents for a car that is located abroad. If you really want to get it, then you need to do this through the mediation of a lawyer.

Dangers awaiting the buyer of a car

The car dealership employees are interested in selling the car at any price, and they want to sell it at the highest price. They have come up with many marketing tricks. These include:

In any salon, holding all kinds of discount promotions is the norm. Advertising trumpets this on every corner, and the buyer rushes to the salon. Arriving at the place, he discovers that the cheap car is very poorly equipped, and the sellers offer to buy additional equipment for substantial money. The buyer gives his consent, and the result is that he not only did not save, but also overpaid. Of course, this cannot be called fraud, but still the buyer remains deceived.

Preferential loan

Luring buyers with interest-free loans has recently become widespread. Consumers sign up for a deal hoping to save money, but in reality it turns out that the overpayment is included in the cost of the loan. In this case, it would be better to buy a car for cash than with such a “preferential” loan.

Strange agreement

The terms of the loan agreement can be so convoluted that you can get confused in them. Sometimes the buyer gets tired of understanding its intricacies, and he signs the document without finishing reading it. In some cases, this results in buyers paying twice as much and paying off the loan at inflated rates.

When buying a car from a private party, you need to look at all the little things. Often sellers try to sell off a “damaged” car without saying anything about it. It is better if a specialist inspects the car.

Here's what you need to check:

• PTS number;
• car number;
• service book.

If a car has a good mileage, then it will definitely have deviations. It is better to pay money for professional diagnostics than to pay for repairs later. And of course, the car must be checked by the traffic police.

Through the Internet

Scammers are much more common online. They are “experts” in their field and can easily gain people’s trust. The buyer receives from them by mail documentation for the car, in which all the seals are in place. After this, sellers ask for advance payment. Needless to say, after receiving it they disappear in an unknown direction? Therefore, buying a car remotely is highly not recommended.

How to protect yourself from scammers

When inspecting the car, you should not rush; you need to check everything thoroughly. A meeting with the seller should be scheduled only during the daytime, since evening lighting can hide some of the car’s flaws. If the seller insists on an evening meeting, citing lack of time, do not agree, reschedule it for the weekend.

Here are the documents a car seller should have with him:

• personal passport;
• PTS;
• car registration certificate;
• power of attorney (this document must be certified by a notary).

If the seller cannot show at least one of the above documents, it is better not to carry out the transaction.

Cars are not cheap, and it is this fact that is attractive to crooks of all stripes. The buyer will be able to protect himself from troubles if he remains vigilant when making a transaction. The more knowledgeable the buyer is about the specifics of the procedure, the less chance a swindler will have of deceiving him.

Video about being scammed when buying a car:

Fraud schemes when selling and buying cars

Buying a dream car inexpensively, quickly and without deception is the dream of every car enthusiast. But the statistics look quite sad.

Fraud when buying a car is not a rare occurrence, and recently more and more such cases have been registered. Moreover, you can encounter scammers both on the real car market and on virtual Internet platforms.

For example, on Avito , which is not only the largest and regularly updated database for posting advertisements for both the primary and secondary car markets, but also a favorite target for scammers .

At the same time, fraud schemes when selling a car are constantly being improved. , telephone calls with information about a won car , which can be received immediately after confirming the data and paying a deposit to a bank card, have become widespread

Of course, this deception is the most banal and, fortunately, fewer and fewer people believe in non-existent winnings. But there are types of fraud when selling a car, in which it is quite difficult for an inexperienced person to detect an attempt to deceive.

Popular methods of fraud when selling a car on the secondary market

It should be borne in mind that all the methods of deceiving the buyer described below are very common .

You shouldn’t be too self-confident and assume that without taking certain precautions, buying the car you like will go without a hitch.

Be especially vigilant and carefully check every nuance.

Fraud when purchasing a car issued on credit or that is the subject of a pledge or encumbrance

In this case, there is a high risk of being left both without a car and without money. Criminals issue a car loan to a fake person .

The original PTS remains in the bank, and the potential buyer is presented with a duplicate issued by the traffic police. It is not difficult to obtain it; you can simply write a statement of loss.

Next, the scammers use an attractive price to find a client. After the transaction is concluded and the car is registered with the new owners, loan payments stop.

Bank employees put the car on the wanted list and place a lien on it , and it is no longer possible to find a seller to recover the money spent.

Methods of protection

under any circumstances complete a transaction without the original PTS or a certificate from the bank confirming full repayment of the loan. Fraud with STS may involve its failure to present it.

Using the STS number, you can track the actual number of owners, all encumbrances and prohibitions, and the presence of accidents.

Be sure to check your vehicle at the traffic police (on the official website) or through a special registry.

The online check procedure is free and provides information about restrictions and prohibitions imposed on cars in connection with litigation.

Data on pledged cars can be obtained on Avto.ru or the FNP website . The list of banks with which Avto.ru cooperates is presented on the portal.

The procedure for registering data on collateral is advisory for banks. Therefore, even the absence of a car on the lists does not guarantee its 100% legal purity .

Car advance payment scam

The option of the seller disappearing after making a deposit is becoming more and more common. The scammer asks for an advance payment in order to reserve the car for the buyer.

Most often, the procedure does not have documentary evidence, so the swindler resells the car to another person with impunity.

also cases of making advance payments for a non-existent car . In this case, the scammers assure the buyer that the car is located abroad and an advance payment is required for its delivery, customs clearance and registration.

As evidence, the client is provided with contracts with signatures, seals and legal addresses of the company providing such services. After receiving the advance, the seller disappears.

Methods of protection

Any transfer of funds must be confirmed by a receipt. The money must be transferred personally to the owner of the vehicle after mandatory verification of passport data.

The receipt must include all necessary information, including:

• passport details;
• car price;
• conditions for termination of the transaction, etc.

It is advisable that the document be signed by 2 competent witnesses who can subsequently confirm the fact of the transfer of money.

When purchasing a foreign car, check all the necessary information about the company on the Internet and using other methods. Make sure of the reality of the company’s existence, its stable functioning and good reputation.

If you discover any discrepancies or facts of document falsification, refuse the deal without hesitation and look for another option .

Buying a car with defects

Often, a car that looks perfectly straightened at first glance is absolutely rotten from the inside.

It is possible to ideally disguise all defects at any car service center , but in the end the buyer at an inflated price can purchase a “drowned car” or a car with a low mileage or restored after a serious accident.

Method of protection

Any defect can be identified by careful inspection at a service station . By agreement, you can divide the costs equally or assign them to the seller. In this case, it is not advisable to contact an “experienced friend”.

Fraud when buying a car at a dealership

When buying a car from a dealer or taking it out on credit , there is a risk of paying a significantly higher cost and bearing the burden of inflated overpayments.

Stock . Each car dealership regularly announces the sale of cars at significant discounts. When visiting the showroom, it turns out that this price is set for cars with a minimum configuration, and the employees begin to aggressively push for additional options at an inflated price.

As a result, the final cost of the car can significantly exceed the market average. To avoid such situations, decide on all the parameters in advance and study the offers of several competing companies.

Too attractive interest rates and ephemeral conditions for free lending. Not a single financial organization will act at a loss, which means that the overpayment is already included in the initial cost.

In addition, the interest rates significantly underestimated in advertising slogans may increase significantly by the time the contract is signed due to non-compliance with various banking requirements.

Availability of hidden fees and conditions . Often, attractive conditions hide pitfalls in the form of hidden fees, illegally charged for early repayment of payments, forced insurance policies, unreasonably inflated fees and fines for late payments.

All conditions for prolongation, early repayment of the loan, etc. must be carefully and extensively spelled out in contracts.

You can protect yourself from concluding an unprofitable contract by showing the contract to a lawyer or inviting him to conclude the transaction.

Car fraud: how to avoid being scammed by the seller

As a rule, when concluding a transaction for the sale and purchase of a vehicle, the most vulnerable party is the buyer . But there are a number of schemes in which the seller can also suffer from fraudsters.

To insure yourself against fraud, you should navigate the following situations and follow a number of simple recommendations :

1. Exercise maximum vigilance , demonstrate the car and make a deal only during daylight hours, in a fairly public place. It is advisable to carry out the inspection at a service station or in the presence of a competent specialist who can refute the buyer’s unfounded claims.
2. If the buyer has agreed to purchase a car and asks to remove it from sale, in order to avoid wasting time and reduce the risk of subsequent refusal, it is worth taking a deposit and documenting it with a receipt, which indicates the grounds for terminating the agreement. As a rule, if a deal is canceled due to the buyer’s carelessness, the deposit is a non-refundable deposit and partially compensates for the inconvenience caused and wasted time.
3. Be wary if the buyer is looking for a car that has been deregistered . Persons carrying out robbery attacks mainly look for cars that are not registered with the traffic police. Plan your test drive route in advance and take a friend with you.
4. To protect yourself from receiving counterfeit money , it is advisable to be present when it is withdrawn from your account or at an ATM, or check it with the cashier on the adding machine. The procedure is paid and amounts to 0.1% of the total amount. To avoid substitution, do not send them back to the buyer. Before signing the contract, count the bills several times.
5. When making non-cash payments , sign the contract and draw up an act of acceptance and transfer of the car only after the money has been received into the account.
6. You should not relax even after making a transaction . If the seller is engaged in criminal activity, he can pass on information to accomplices who can commit theft or robbery at a traffic light, in a traffic jam, by deliberately creating a minor accident. The best option is not to carry a large sum of money with you, but to immediately deposit it into a bank account or card.
7. The last scheme is quite rare, but it is still worth knowing about it. As a rule, scammers delay the execution of the contract at the last moment and ask you to wait a little. At this time, an accomplice appears, who also comes up with a legend with anticipation and offers to pass the time by gambling. Hobbyists easily lose a car intended for sale.

Video: How to identify scammers on AVITO when buying a car, typical advertisements, scam schemes

Punishment for fraud in the purchase and sale of a car

There is no specific article for deception when selling a car , but the very fact of taking someone else’s property through deception and abuse of trust falls under Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

The new edition of 2019 implies the fact of committing fraudulent actions not only in cases of providing knowingly false information, but also in cases of deliberate omission. Also signs of a crime are distortion of factors such as price, quality and quantity.

Punishment depends on the severity of the crime and may include:

• imposing a criminal fine of up to 500 thousand rubles;
• imprisonment for up to 6 years (in especially severe cases and damage exceeding 6 million rubles, up to 10 years).

To record the fact of fraud, you must first file a criminal complaint with the police department.

The appeal should describe in detail the method of committing fraud , indicate all known data about the criminal, describe signs (if the identity has not been established or the data is subject to doubt), and indicate the presence of witnesses.

obtain a notification coupon from the duty officer . You can also duplicate the submission of an application to the Prosecutor's Office and the bodies of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation.

Fraud schemes for buying and selling cars

Fraud when buying or selling cars occurs all the time, and falling into the trap is easy. This is because the used vehicle market provides an opportunity for scammers seeking to enrich themselves at the expense of ordinary buyers and sellers. So what are the most common fraud schemes used by scammers when selling and buying cars and what is their essence? What should you pay attention to first when completing a transaction and how to avoid becoming a victim of scammers? What should you do if a car owner becomes a victim of scammers? We will try to answer these questions in this article.

Common fraud schemes when buying a car

Obviously, the comparative risks of vehicle sellers and buyers are not the same. Thus, the latter are deceived much more often, but the damage caused to sellers is many times greater, since most often the object of illegal actions is either a large amount or the car itself. So, first, let's look at the types of fraud aimed at deceiving buyers. Each of the following methods is equally common:

• Sale of a car purchased on credit. The seller will not mention that the car was purchased with credit funds, and the credit legal relationship is still valid. On the contrary, they will lure you with all available means - relatively low cost, low mileage, etc. Then, when completing the transaction, they will provide a duplicate of the PTS, claiming that the original has been lost. At the same time, getting a duplicate from the traffic police is as easy as shelling pears; all you need to do is write an application and pay a fee. After the transaction is completed and the money is transferred, the borrower stops making monthly payments on the car loan, and the bank puts the car on the wanted list and that’s it, the new owner is left without money and without a vehicle;
• Sale of cars with advance payment. It often happens that the seller and buyer agree on a transaction and the seller asks for a deposit as a guarantor of a future purchase. But unscrupulous sellers, having taken possession of the advance, disappear from sight. In this case, it is common practice to leave a deposit without drawing up a document confirming its payment. Then the buyer is left with nothing, and the seller continues to practice similar sales. Some scammers manage to get an advance on cars that don’t exist at all. According to the scammers, the car is located outside the Russian Federation and funds are required to transport it, customs clearance, etc. To lull vigilance, the buyer is presented with a contract with all the attributes (signatures, seals) of the company that provides the relevant services and after receiving the advance payment the seller dissolves;
• Selling an illiquid car under the guise of a car in excellent condition. This is a classic scam among scammers. In fact, a “killed” car undergoes serious pre-sale preparation, the appearance is brought by craftsmen to a condition close to ideal and an excessively inflated price is set, but in fact the car is rotten from the inside or has been seriously damaged, or even completely restored after an accident;
• Sale of cars by dealers and car showrooms on credit. Here the imagination of sellers and lenders goes far. Car showrooms and dealers practice luring customers with promotions and discounts, which, after the transaction is completed, are often accompanied by unnecessary expenses. Promotional cars, as a rule, are sold in a basic configuration, and employees persistently push additional options, etc. Loan agreements contain additional fees on top of the interest accrued on the debt amount.

The above schemes are the most common in the automotive industry and despite the fact that a large circle of car enthusiasts know about them, they still work. In most cases, this is the merit of the scammers themselves, who skillfully gain trust and win over a potential buyer who cannot even imagine that he will be deceived. Therefore, when making purchase and sale transactions, when it is not possible to objectively verify the integrity of the seller, you should pay attention to:

• Authenticity of car documents. The duplicate requires a small check, first of all, for the presence of encumbrances (bank collateral). The traffic police website makes it possible for free to find out about encumbrances and other information, and in case of purchasing a vehicle purchased on credit, you need to ask for a certificate from the bank stating that the debt has been repaid;
• Requests for an advance for a car. You should not transfer money as payment or prepayment without receiving supporting documents (check, receipt). The receipt must contain both the amount transferred and the currency, as well as information about the recipient of the money;
• Doubts about the condition of the car, which suggest contacting a service station. A trip to the station is recommended for all buyers who do not have sufficient knowledge of the structure of the car;
• Contract provisions. When purchasing at a dealership on a promotion or on credit, you need to read the contract, which may contain hidden conditions for selling a car on a promotion or on credit, which significantly increases the cost of the purchase. An invited lawyer can evaluate the contract.

Selling or buying a vehicle is always a risk, since we are talking about a valuable property and a fairly large amount of money. Anyone can fall for the trick of scammers, even those who are legally savvy in this area. Therefore, before making a transaction, it is always better to play it safe and pay more attention to studying all the nuances than to later defend your rights in court.

What types of fraud occur when selling a car?

Sellers are less likely than buyers to suffer from scammers, but this also happens. At the same time, fraud schemes are much more sophisticated, since the seller initially does not have the most advantageous position - he is more open informationally, his data is in the advertisement for the sale of a car, or he presents it to a potential buyer without thinking about the consequences. According to statistics, it is car sellers who most often become victims of physical violence when trying to get money for their car. So, most often fraudulent schemes look like this:

• Emptying the seller's bank account. The pseudo-buyer agrees to the purchase without haggling, asks to reserve the car and not put it up for further sale, and is ready to pay an advance payment to the seller’s account right now. The inspired seller happily provides the card details (number, expiration date, and a three-digit number on the back - CVV code) and awaits the receipt of the first part of the payment. But here nothing happens and the excited seller asks the buyer what the difficulties are, to which he replies that the bank required additional confirmation of the account to complete the operation. Confirmation is carried out via mobile communication, an SMS with a code is sent to the seller’s number, which must be communicated to the bank to the buyer, and after the attacker takes possession of the code, all funds disappear from the account.
• Falsification of information in Internet banking. This is a scam, usually luxury, involving expensive cars and wealthy sellers. Using computer technology, false information is entered into banking about the receipt of money for payment, although in fact this is not the case.
• Bearer's check. When making a purchase, the attacker makes a payment by writing a check with the required amount, but the account from which such an amount should be written off is either not there, or by the time the seller appears at the bank, it is empty.
• Case with a secret. This is where scammers require sleight of hand. The special case has two compartments, one main, presented for viewing to the seller with real money, the other hidden, where the fakes are located. After the seller recalculates the money, the parties go to formalize the transaction, but between the recalculation and the transfer of the case, the cash disappears, and only counterfeits remain.
• Sale through a car dealership or car house. The seller hands over his used car, they offer it at their price, but not lower than that stated by the seller, and it can stand indefinitely until the seller’s patience runs out and he wants to return the car back, because there were no buyers. But the contract, as a rule, provides for a clause that the return of the car involves the payment of a commission, the amount of which will be equal to 1/4 of the cost of the car, which was established by the intermediary.

The sophisticated minds of scammers generate ideas for enrichment at incredible speed. In addition to the above methods, the seller can be fooled right during the test drive. For example, steal a second car key and then simply steal the vehicle you like. Therefore, you should not come to meetings with potential buyers alone, this can be fraught. In addition, to ensure transaction security, sellers should:

• Carry out all actions when selling a car with a client during daylight hours (show the car, draw up an agreement, etc.) in relatively crowded places;
• Do not deregister the car early at the buyer’s request;
• Discuss the route for checking the car on the road in advance and take someone with you;
• Check money for authenticity upon receipt as payment, so that the money no longer goes out of sight or is even with the seller. When signing the contract, the funds should be checked again, including recalculation;
• Don’t hesitate and put the proceeds in the bank, rather than carry them around the city with you.

If the seller finds himself in one of the situations described above, then he should contact law enforcement agencies with a corresponding statement and provide all documents and other evidence of the transaction (for example, counterfeit money). Most likely, a criminal case will be initiated under Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, and if the fraudsters are caught, they will face a large fine, imprisonment or another type of punishment provided for such a crime.

Conclusion

When making car purchase and sale transactions, you should be vigilant and make sure that the other party is honest before signing any documents, giving or transferring money, etc. If there is such a possibility, then it is better to involve a competent person, for example, a lawyer, in the procedure. If this is not possible, then it is better to refuse a dubious transaction than to take risks, since you may be left with nothing.

How to avoid getting scammed when buying a used car

Suppose you have already decided on the make of the car, its type, age, and even have an approximate idea of ​​how much it might cost. Now a few important points.

No matter how good a used car looks, it will immediately require financial investments. Oil change, maintenance, purchasing new tires, often even minor repairs. You need to be prepared for all this and not spend all the money you have prepared on buying a car.

Let's start choosing a car. If you are not buying a car for your close friend or relative, then you will have to look through a lot of advertisements for sale. The Internet is full of relevant sites that make no sense to advertise.

1. You should immediately discard the cheapest and most expensive offers. Cars that are too cheap raise suspicions of fraud, while cars that are too expensive show the seller’s unreasonable expectations.

2. It is better to buy a car directly from the owner, and not from a reseller.
The latter often purchase broken and beat-up cars, repair them and sell them “almost like new.” How to identify a reseller? There are several simple signs: Photos of the car were not taken in a parking lot, service area, industrial zone, or garage.
Nearby you can see other cars, which are also clearly for sale. When talking on the phone with the seller, it turns out that the car is not his, but his brother, matchmaker, wife, one girl he knows, etc. They cannot provide any details about this car, they offer to drive up and see everything on the spot. Again, you need to go not to a residential building, but to some kind of industrial zone.

You can also buy a car from resellers; after all, many car owners don’t want to bother with selling, but hand over the car to a trade-in or a specialized car dealership. But the chance of being deceived there is much higher, because you are not dealing with amateurs, but with professional sellers, whose task is to quickly and en masse sell cars without diving into the details.

But let’s say everything is in order with the ad, an adequate interlocutor answers the phone, and not a representative of the neighboring countries who speaks Russian poorly. The next step is going to the site.

3. Inspection of the car begins with studying the documents. Must have: PTS, vehicle registration certificate, diagnostic inspection card, it is highly desirable to have a service book (the mileage is recorded there). In the PTS we look at the number of owners and the period of use of the car. If the car has had many owners, then you should think about it; a good car often does not change its owner.

4. Now let's look at the car itself. Obviously, it should be free of dents, corrosion and blistered paintwork. However, the absence of visible flaws does not mean anything. Often the car is put in order (repaired, painted) before being sold. But they do this in cheap services, so after a few months the paint begins to come off the body.

To determine whether a car has been body repaired, there is a special device - a thickness gauge that measures the thickness of the paint layer. With its help, you will find out in a matter of seconds what parts of the car were repaired.

The car windows can also tell about accidents that the seller wants to hide. They are all marked. If the markings are different on different glasses, then they were changed. The headlight markings should also be the same.

However, keep in mind that if the car is more than two or three years old, then with a probability approaching 100%, it has been in an accident. Judge for yourself. About 2,000 minor accidents occur in Moscow every day. In fact, even more, because not all of them are registered. The accidents involve at least two cars. This means that in 365 days of one year, about one and a half million cars are damaged. In three years, the entire capital's vehicle fleet will have accidents.

You simply won’t buy a used car that hasn’t been damaged or painted. The only question is whether the car was damaged only to the bumper and fender with the hood, or whether it was completely broken, but it was restored and is now being sold. Ordinary motorists rarely do this, but resellers are happy to buy cars in any condition for next to nothing, make two out of two and sell them to gullible citizens.

Such a car can be easily restored, but would you like to buy it after that?

5. Now we look at the mileage of the car. Many people do this before selling their car, including almost everyone in garage car dealerships. It's funny, but sometimes the mileage in the service book and diagnostic card differs from the odometer readings several times, and moreover. Mileage can be indirectly judged by the condition of the driver's seat, steering wheel, gear shift knob and seat belts. If the cover of the chair is worn almost to holes, and the odometer shows only 50 thousand kilometers, then draw your own conclusions. Naturally, cars are often sold with seat covers, so don’t be lazy to look under them.

6. It’s worth looking under the hood. We check that there are no leaks of antifreeze, oil or brake fluid.

7. The engine should start the first time. When the ignition is turned on, all indicator lights on the instrument panel should light up and go out. Quickly press the accelerator to sharply increase engine speed. A well tuned engine will pick up right away. If, when you sharply press the gas pedal, the engine gains speed late, then it has many problems that can only be solved in a car service center. A warm engine should run smoothly, without vibrations, knocks, squeaks, whistles and other extraneous noise.

8. When driving on a flat area, the car should drive straight without deviation. During sudden acceleration and braking, the car should not squat forward and backward, respectively. Otherwise, the shock absorbers need to be replaced. Shifting gears should occur easily and clearly without crunching or grinding.

9. And lastly. If you buy a car and don't like it, it's not the end of the world. It can always be sold, and often without loss of price. I drove a new car out of the dealership and it immediately dropped in price by 10-15%; you can also earn extra money on the secondary market.

Naturally, everything written above cannot be considered final instructions. Surely almost everyone has experience in purchasing a used car. What difficulties did you have to face in doing so? Have you ever been deceived when buying a car?

Fraud when buying and selling a car

Buying a good car quickly and inexpensively is the dream of every car enthusiast.

However, the statistics are sad. Fraud in the purchase and sale of a car is already a common phenomenon, and in recent years cases have become more frequent. You can come across scammers on the car market and virtual Internet platforms. How to protect yourself from scammers when buying and selling a car? Read our material.

Types of car fraud

There are several common vehicle scams:

1. a fraudulent drawing with a fictitious prize;
2. sale of a car that is subject to a loan, pledge or encumbrance;
3. advance payment fraud;
4. sales of cars with hidden defects or “broken” license plates;
5. fraud when purchasing vehicles in a dealership or on credit (fraudulent promotions and unrealistic discounts, too attractive interest rates).

Let's take a closer look at them.

“The prize sector is the car!”

This is one of the oldest methods of “divorce”. Scammers call a potential victim and inform them that they have won a valuable item. To receive a gift, you must deposit money into the specified account for insurance or delivery of the prize. After receiving the funds, the scammers disappear without a trace. No matter how banal this deception may be, people still fall for it.

Do not believe dubious pranks and do not transfer money to unknown persons.

"Credit" machine

Criminals issue a car loan to a fake person. The PTS remains in the bank, and the potential buyer is presented with a duplicate issued by the traffic police - you can get it by simply writing a statement about the loss of the original. Next, the scammers put the car up for sale at a low price and find a client.

After the car is registered by the new owner, loan payments stop. The bank puts the vehicle on the wanted list and confiscates it. The victim can either pay off the balance of the loan or forget about the unsuccessful purchase.

To avoid getting into this situation, follow these rules:

• do not make a transaction without the original title or a certificate from the bank about repayment of the car loan;
• check the vehicle through special websites or at the traffic police department.

Ask the seller for the original PTS or a certificate from the bank.

Checking for credit is especially important if the first owner is selling a car purchased less than 3-5 years ago. This is the period for which car loans are usually issued.

Information about pledges can be found on the websites of Avto.ru and the Federal Notary Chamber. Remember that banks are not required to enter current information into the database, so the absence of a car in the specified lists does not guarantee its complete legal purity.

"Make a prepayment"

The scammer asks the buyer to pay part of the cost of the car in advance in order to “book” it for the client. Usually the fact of transferring money does not have documentary evidence, so the swindler calmly resells the car to other people.

There are also advance payments for non-existent transport. The criminals assure the buyer that the car is located in another country and an advance payment is required for its delivery, customs clearance and clearance. As evidence, the victim is provided with contracts with signatures, seals and the legal address of the company providing such services. After receiving the money, the “seller” disappears.

Simple rules will help you protect yourself from such a scam:

• confirm the transfer of money with a receipt;
• hand over the deposit personally to the seller, and do not transfer it to the card;
• give money only to the owner of the car after checking his passport details;
• When buying a car from abroad, check information about the company via the Internet.

If you discover inconsistencies in the words of the sellers or facts of falsification of documents, refuse to complete the transaction without hesitation.

Be sure to make a receipt for the transfer of money.

Cars with hidden defects

Often, a car that looks great turns out to be completely rotten inside. Almost all defects can be masked at any car service center. As a result, you will receive a car with a “twisted” mileage or restored after a serious accident.

To avoid being scammed, visit a service station. During inspection, you can identify any defects that the seller discreetly kept silent about. In a similar way, you can identify the fact that the factory markings on car parts have changed.

Have your car thoroughly checked at the nearest service station.

Fraud by a car dealership or bank

Even when buying a car at a dealership or on credit, there is a risk of fraud. Every car dealership announces big discounts from time to time. Upon visiting, it turns out that the low price is only for basic cars. The salon employees begin to intensively impose additional options on the client at the highest possible cost. Thus, the price of a vehicle can significantly exceed the market average.

To avoid such situations, decide on all the necessary parameters in advance and study the offers of several companies.

When you go to a car dealership, know what kind of car you want to buy.

Some banks offer car loans with incredibly low interest rates. Do not give in to temptation - a financial organization will not operate at a loss. The overpayment is already included in the loan amount. In addition, the percentages underestimated in advertising slogans by the time the contract is signed can increase significantly for various far-fetched reasons.

Often, attractive conditions hide “pitfalls” - hidden fees, imposed insurance, fines for late payments, etc. Remember that the loan agreement must specify all the conditions for prolongation, early repayment of the loan, etc.

Read the loan agreement carefully before signing.

What should you pay attention to if you buy a car second-hand?

Having chosen the appropriate option, arrange a preliminary inspection. Choose a place for inspection so that the technical deficiencies of the car can be identified. For inspection, take your passport, a printed sales contract (3 copies) and a pen. It is better to go for money after you are sure that the car is in good condition.

Ask the owner to show documents:

• personal passport;
• PTS and STS;
• service book with the vehicle's maintenance history;
• permission to sell a vehicle from a family member if the car is jointly owned.

If you are rejected, say goodbye politely. Don't waste your time and don't believe the seller's words. Most likely, they want to deceive you.

Ways to check a car before buying

The legal cleanliness of a car can be checked using various Internet services. It is better to do this before meeting the seller. You will need the STS number, vehicle registration number and VIN.

To check it yourself, you can use:

The procedure will take a couple of minutes. On the right side of the main page, select “Vehicle check”, and in the field that appears, enter the VIN number (17 digits). The system will automatically check if the vehicle is wanted and if it has registration restrictions. If the result is positive, you should refuse the purchase.

The resource allows you to quickly check the car's history. However, the site only works with vehicles registered in Moscow or the Moscow region. To check, you will need the STS number and VIN.

At the bottom of the page you need to find and select the “VIN Check” item. Enter the number and find out if the car is pledged to the bank.

The check will help determine whether the owner of the car has unpaid debts for which the vehicle may be confiscated.

If you are not sure about the “cleanliness” of the car, check it in the database.

How to protect yourself when buying or selling a car without intermediaries?

Not only the buyer, but also the seller can become a victim of automobile fraud. If you decide to sell your car, follow these simple rules:

• show the car and make a deal during daylight hours in a crowded place. The optimal solution is to invite a good auto mechanic to refute the buyer’s unfounded claims;
• carefully count and check banknotes. The best option is to go with the buyer to the nearest ATM and personally be present when the money is withdrawn, or visit the bank and arrange a transfer of funds to your account;
• sign the purchase and sale agreement after receiving the money.

Conclude a deal after paying for the car in full.

A buyer should be wary if the seller:

• does not want to show the car during the day or asks to come to a deserted place;
• requires too large a deposit (the norm is from 1/20 to 1/5 of the cost of the car);
• does not agree to write a receipt for receipt of money;
• does not provide the necessary documents;
• gives a duplicate PTS;
• sells a car on behalf of another person without having a power of attorney for such actions.

Request only original documents for the car.

Where to go if you become a victim of scammers?

The first step is to go to the police. You can write an application at the department, but it is better to prepare it in advance. Indicate your personal data, the circumstances of the case, and information you know about the scammers.

The appeal is submitted to your territorial police department or to department “K” of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation in case of fraud via the Internet (for example, on Avito). It is better to submit it in person, but you can fill out an application on the official website of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.