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Fraud & Buying

The Buyer's Guide and Fraud Encyclopedia

How vehicle fraud is actually done in the UK — and how to spot it before you pay

Vehicle fraud in the UK is not rare and it is not always sophisticated. Most of the techniques used to defraud private buyers have been documented for years by trading standards, the police and the major data providers. This encyclopedia describes each method in plain terms, with the checks that defeat it. Nothing here is a how-to; everything here is a how-to-spot.

Contents

  1. Chapter 1 — Cloned vehicles: how it works, how to spot it

    9 min

    What cloning is, why it is the most common high-value vehicle fraud in the UK, and the four checks that catch most clones in under ten minutes.

  2. Chapter 2 — Mileage clocking and what the MOT history reveals

    4 min

    The CAN-bus rewind, the cluster swap, and why the DVSA MOT history database is the single best free defence against mileage fraud.

  3. Chapter 3 — V5C and logbook forgery: red flags on the paper

    5 min

    The DVL watermark, the document-number sequence, the green new-keeper slip scam, and what a genuine V5C feels like.

  4. Chapter 4 — Cat S, Cat N and the write-off cover-up: what's been hidden

    5 min

    How insurance write-off categories actually work, the difference between Cat A/B/S/N, and the structural repairs that should never be hidden.

  5. Chapter 5 — Irish-reg laundering and cross-border write-off washing

    5 min

    Why a UK-write-off car re-registered abroad and brought back loses its category marker, and the cross-border data sources that close the gap.

  6. Chapter 6 — VIN swaps, ringing and stolen-to-order builds

    5 min

    The donor-shell technique, where VINs hide on a modern car, and the etched-glass and ECU-stored identifiers that catch most ringers.

  7. Chapter 7 — Fake escrow services, counterfeit notes and bank-transfer reversal scams

    5 min

    AutoTrader-imposter escrow sites, counterfeit Bank of England notes, and why same-day Faster Payment is not the same as cleared funds.

  8. Chapter 8 — Hire fraud, fake-ID test drives and dealer-yard theft

    5 min

    How fraudsters rent properties and take cars on test drive using genuine-looking forged ID, and the dealer-side controls that defeat them.