Gardaí are warning of a new car sales scam that has been on the rise since late last year. The ruse involves used cars being advertised on popular car sales websites with eye-catchingly low prices and a promise of six months' tax or NCT. When the seller arrives to look at the car they likely hand over the money (usually a figure below €1,000) before noticing that no valid tax or NCT discs are displayed.
Upon raising this, the seller assures them that all the paperwork is in order, leaves to retrieve it and never returns, leaving the buyer with an untaxed car that may not even be roadworthy.
Beyond perhaps a claim of false advertising no laws have been broken so the buyer is left to foot the bill for any work that needs to be done to make the car roadworthy and of course the outstanding tax. Gardaí are advising never to hand over money without proof of tax, NCT and the logbook, also known as the Vehicle Registration Certificate or VRC.
"This type of scam is easily-combated through a background check on the car," says Conor Faughnan of the AA. "When buying from a private or trade seller, just ask for the serial number on the VRC and the NCT cert/disc number. Enter this data on an AA Car Data Check and we'll cross-reference these with what's on file for that car, so we can authenticate the VRC and the NCT cert number."