Car finance warning issued over car reg text message scam

Drivers have been urged to be wary of a bogus car finance message being sent out by fraudsters which even includes your car registration number and make.

Motorists who purchased a car using car finance are waiting to hear if they will be able to claim compensation as they may have been mis-sold the funding.

The Financial Conduct Authority is investigating whether there is a case that some dealers who arranged car finance for buyers did not properly inform them of the charges involved.

This could affect people who had discretionary commission arrangements, which gave car dealers more flexibility to charge higher interest to customers, allowing them to pocket more of this as their commission for arranging the deal. Such arrangements were outlawed in 2021.

As drivers wait to see if they can claim some cash, fraudsters are seemingly trying to take advantage of the situation to lure people into handing over their details.

In one highly convincing scam, a motorist was sent a text message which included details of their vehicle registration plate and the make of their car.

The fake message read: "FUNDS ALLOCATED: PORSCHE - [REGISTRATION NUMBER]. Please complete the last stage [bit.ly link] to see what you are owed. You could get up to £16k."

Fortunately, the driver immediately knew the message was fake as they had never used car finance to purchase a vehicle.

Consumer law expert Lisa Webb, from Which?, said it was "really worrying" that scammers are targeting drivers with such convincing messages.

She spoke about how fraudsters can access such personal details: "Scammers have multiple ways of obtaining details, including through data breaches or convincing people to enter information into scam websites.

"Personal data is an incredibly valuable commodity and can be illegally traded between fraudsters with relative ease. Consumers should always be cautious when entering any details online and ensure their online accounts have strong, unique passwords."

She shared some tips for what to do if you get message like this: "If you receive a text about car finance out of the blue, treat it with suspicion and don't click on any links.

"You can reach out to the company to check whether the message is genuine by using the official contact details listed on the company's website.

"But consumers should be careful about signing up to any claims management companies offering to recover compensation for you as they will take a cut for something that you can do for free."

Ms Webb also advised that you can report such scam texts by forward the message to 7726, a free reporting service provided by phone operators.

You can also report the scam by taking a screenshot of the text and sending the image to report@phishing.gov.uk. Should you be taken in by a scam and hand over your details, you should contact your bank immediately for help.