Car Finance Fraud Encouraged By Lack Of Policing
Monday, 1. August 2011
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I travel quite a lot on the M25 and the M40 and see someone pulled over for speeding on nearly every trip, or should I say I used to. Just recently I have hardly seen any at all. I guess this must be as a result of Government cutbacks. It would also seem that fewer stolen cars are being found before being shipped out of the country because of Government cutbacks at the UK ports. Finance crime is at an all time high encouraged by the ease that crooks can get the cars out of the country. Finance is achieved through the use of false or stolen ID then the vehicle is sold abroad.
According to the Finance & Leasing Association 230 luxury cars were shipped abroad during the first 3 months of 2011 worth £3.8 million compared to 197 during the first 3 months of 2010.
The FLA and the police are reluctant to give out details of the fraudulent ways that cars are obtained but we feel that the most common methods are fraudulent ID’s and fraudulent employment histories.
The port police managed to successfully stop 2,000 cars from leaving the country during the first 3 months including a Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder, prevented from leaving Felixstowe. The task has been made more difficult following the Government’s axing of the Vehicle Crime Unit funding.
The FLA pointed out that it costs £800,000 per annum to run the unit which currently comes from their members but is of course reduced when cars are recovered and sold.
I guess it only becomes an issue if you happen to drive a luxury car and even then you get the car replaced by your insurance company so I’m beginning to wonder why I even mentioned it! By Graham Hill
