Scams Targeting Car Owners in Kenya In 2024

More and more people are owning cars in Kenya. The booming car market has unfortunately also attracted fraudsters. As a car owner or an aspiring car buyer, you must be aware of the scams that these fraudsters employ to defraud you of your car or money. 

In this article, we shall help both car owners and those prospecting to buy one to understand the modus operandi of scammers, recognize red flags, and adopt preventive measures to secure their property.

The scams range from identity scams, stolen vehicles, fake car auctions, fake car ads on social media, attractive discounts, and people posing as sellers while others pose as buyers, among others. 

Read Also: Tricks Scammers Use to Rob Kenyans: Pyramid Schemes

Identity Scams

Identity scams are often done through information phishing, where deceptive individuals try to extract personal information such as bank account information, KRA credentials, or even copies of IDs to facilitate identity theft. 

Armed with your stolen identity, the fraudsters can create counterfeit ownership papers, forge signatures, and proceed to do fraudulent activities. These fraudulent activities include:

• Selling stolen vehicles using your identifying details 
• Obtaining loans with your vehicle as the collateral

Being Sold Stolen Vehicles

With the current tough economic times, vehicle buyers are opting to buy used vehicles. New cars are very expensive. This opens up buyers to potential scams. They might be stolen cars or cloned cars.

Car cloning is when a thief takes license plates, vehicle identification numbers, and registration stickers from a legal vehicle and places them in another vehicle of a similar model and makes, mostly a stolen vehicle or a re-assembled vehicle using stolen parts. 

Read Also: Top Scams That Swindled Kenyans in 2023

Fake Car Auction/sales Sites

The Kenyan market is flooded with fake car auctions and websites. These websites purport to sell cars and lure potential customers with low prices, a seemingly wide selection of cars, and attractive financing options.

These fraudulent platforms masquerade as legitimate auction houses, sales sites, or reputable dealerships, where they leverage websites and persuasive marketing tactics to inveigle unsuspecting customers into their web of deceit.

Fake Car Ads on Social Media

Fake car ads on social media are a bummer. The ads target unsuspecting customers and prey on people looking for good deals. Here’s how to spot a fake car ad on social media:

• Phoney prices: This is a tactic that tricks buyers into thinking they are getting a good car deal at average market prices. An example is the car ad displaying a raised price for a short duration and then marking it to the original price and labelling it as limited or on sale with a hefty discount. 
• The pressure-prey tactic is where the purported seller rushes you to make a deposit payment so that they can reserve the car for you in case another interested party arises.
• Ads missing important information about the vehicle 
• A shoddy website that is characterized by unprofessional design, grammatical errors, stolen images, and hideous testimonials. 

Read Also: 5 Reasons Why People Get Scammed

Posing As Car Buyers

Scammers have sharpened their craft by posing as buyers and luring unsuspecting car sellers to steal their cars or their personal information.

Here is how they do it:

They use pressure tactics. They claim to be busy so they want to buy the car as fast as possible. They do not even want to do a test drive. However, they do not pay at that point; they claim that they have put the money in an escrow account.

Once they have been with the car for a while and are satisfied, you will start the transfer of the title. Once the title is transferred, your money will be released from the escrow. Once you do, the escrow service and the car disappear.

Others still use the age-old tactic of paying with fake counterfeit cheques, or cheques that will bounce.

Posing As Car Sellers

A notable method used to scam car buyers is curbstoning. Curbstoning refers to the sale of a used car by an unlicensed dealer who pretends to be a private entity to evade the law.

Graphic of a car scam. /SICCURA

Often, the car may be advertised online or out on the street with the sign ‘for sale’ on it. As you dig deeper into this option, you realize that the party posing as the seller is not the actual owner, and often ends up selling you a damaged or stolen car. 

Read Also: Too Good to be True? Signs It’s a Get-Rich-Quick Scheme, Scam

How To Avoid These Scams

How do you shield yourself from these car scams?

Do an NTSA or KEBS Search

The National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) in Kenya has a user-friendly system that allows an individual to search for and retrieve vehicle information. This will come in handy if you're looking to confirm the authenticity and detail verification of a vehicle you intend to purchase. 

The following are some steps one can use: 

1. Access the NTSA Transport Integrated Management Systems (TIMS) Portal
2. Login or Create an Account
3. Navigate to the “Vehicle Search” Section
4. Enter Vehicle Registration Details
5. Complete the CAPTCHA Verification
6. Initiate the car search
7. Verify the Information
8. Print the Search Report 

The Kenya Bureau Of Standards (KEBS) 

KEBS unveiled an SMS code to verify car details and mileage that covers both used and new cars, where buyers send the chassis number to the short messaging code, 20023.

The government agency took this initiative following complaints raised by buyers over purchasing vehicles whose mileage and identification details have been altered.

Alternatively, one can key in the chassis number on their website.

Other Options Include 

• Using authorized and trusted car dealerships 
• Make payments on a traceable trail 
• Use a trusted mechanic to confirm that vin cloning, title washing, and odometer fraud have not been committed, among other inspection protocols.
• Stay informed and be vigilant on unrealistic car deals
• Avoid dealers who are using pressure tactics to rush you to close the deal. 

Wrapping Up

As a car buyer or seller, it's paramount that you take measures and arm yourself. Vehicle-related scams vary from sophisticated online schemes to traditional tricks.

Car scammers use these methods to exploit trusting motorists. Pay attention so that you are not one of them.

This article originally appeared on Money254. Money254 helps consumers and business owners to search, compare, and apply for financial products in Kenya.