What is the ghost garage scam that is causing havoc in France ?

© Pexels/Antoni Shkraba

A new fraud is being deployed on a large scale in the north of France. More specifically in Béthune and Lens, where several individuals have filed complaints following a scam at a ghost garage. A look back at a scam that is claiming more and more victims.

How it works ?

France Info returned to the case of Matthieu Leriquier, a motorist who goes to a garage to pick up a car he has just bought. When he gets there, he finds the door closed. He will never be able to get his hands on this utility vehicle.

Quoted by our colleagues from the public service, the latter shares his surprise: “It was a garage that was wide open with lots of vehicles. I see that he sells quite a few vehicles and I thought that this could be a good deal. So, we made the first payment of 10% and then we did the rest”.

He is unfortunately far from being the only individual to have been fooled. Many testimonies published online attest to this. Several consumers have paid the price of these malicious actors who put cars in good condition up for sale at unbeatable prices. Once they have netted their target, the criminals ask them for an initial down payment and disappear into the wild without a trace.

An investigation opened

We can imagine the distress of these consumers who have sometimes obtained bank loans to carry out these operations and find themselves with nothing. If this scam works so well, it is mainly because the customers have already come into face-to-face contact with the scammer and, in this context, the garage is open and everything seems in order. Quoted by TF1, David Dhote, a criminal lawyer at the Lille bar, thus underlines:

We hope that there will be prosecutions and identification of the perpetrators of the offences, since we have several companies that have been created. We also hope that the people will be solvent. But we still need to be able to compensate the victims for their losses.

In a single garage in Noyelles-sous-Lens, no fewer than 25 victims have been recorded. For its part, the Béthune public prosecutor's office has opened an investigation for fraud and abuse of weakness. Faced with danger, it is therefore advisable to exercise great vigilance. Be especially wary of offers that are too tempting, because this is often a way used by scammers to push you into making a mistake.

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