Ilia Zavialov

Used car fraud

Ilia Zavialov on used car fraud: fake adverts, VIN and history checks, cloned cars and safe payment

English version for the United Kingdom.

Ilia Zavialov explains used car fraud in the UK and how to check a car and its seller before paying. The schemes vary: an advert for a car that does not exist, a deposit to hold it, clocked mileage, outstanding finance, a cloned identity or a stolen V5C. The defence is a sequence of checks that cost little: DVLA records and MOT history on GOV.UK, the V5C serial number and watermark, a finance check and a payment method that keeps your card protection. Fraud in England, Wales and Northern Ireland goes to Report Fraud.

·13 min read·Ilia Zavialov

Ilia Zavialov on V5C checks and paying safely for a used car.
Only the deposit was real.

01Ilia Zavialov on why used car deals draw fraudsters

A used car sale brings together everything a fraud needs: a large sum, a stranger, time pressure and paperwork the buyer is seeing for the first time. Most sellers are private individuals, so there is no shop to complain to once the money has gone. What remains after a lost payment is a police report and a long search.

Ilia Zavialov sorts the risks into four groups. In the first, the car does not exist and the advert only collects deposits. In the second, the car is real and cannot be bought cleanly, because it is stolen, still carries a debt or has a damaged history that someone removed from the paperwork. In the third, the car in front of you wears an identity borrowed from another vehicle. In the fourth, the car is clean and the money goes to an intermediary who never passes it on.

Each group has its own warning signs and its own check. Most checks are free or cheap, and every one of them costs less than the full price of a car that has to be handed back.

02Adverts with no car behind them

The simplest scheme needs no vehicle at all. The fraudster copies photos from a genuine advert, sets a price well below the market and answers quickly and politely. A reason to pay early soon appears: other buyers are waiting, the car will go tomorrow, a small deposit will hold it. Next to the price of the car the deposit looks harmless, which is exactly why people send it.

The stories behind the urgency repeat from case to case: a job transfer, a military posting, a divorce, a car that belonged to a relative who has died. Each one explains why the seller cannot meet, why the price is low and why the deal has to close this week. A seller with a real car can usually show it within a day or two.

Ilia Zavialov suggests one rule that removes most of this group: no money moves before you have seen the car, its documents and the person named on them. Any request to pay a third party, to buy cards, to send a deposit for a viewing or to cover delivery after the sale ends the conversation.

Checks take less time than chasing lost money.
Ilia Zavialov: what to check before paying for a used car in the UK
CheckWhereWhat it reveals
Vehicle detailsDVLA vehicle enquiryDetails that do not match
MOT historyGOV.UK serviceClocked mileage and gaps
V5CWatermark and serial numberStolen log books
VIN and engine numberCar against the V5CCloned identity
FinancePrivate history checkHire purchase debt
PaymentCredit or debit cardLoss without protection
SellerViewing at their homeSellers who disappear
Money moves last.

03DVLA records, the V5C and MOT history

GOV.UK sets out the checks to make before a viewing. Ask the seller for the registration number, make, model and MOT test number, check that these match the information DVLA holds, check the MOT status and history and see whether the vehicle has been recalled for a safety issue. The DVLA vehicle enquiry service shows, among other things, vehicle tax, SORN status, when the MOT expires, the date of first registration and the date the last V5C was issued.

At the viewing, ask to see the V5C, the log book. GOV.UK advises making sure it has a DVL watermark and that the serial number is not between BG8229501 and BG9999030 or between BI2305501 and BI2800000. If it is, the V5C might be stolen, and you should call the police as soon as it is safe. Check that the vehicle identification number and the engine number on the car match the log book.

DVLA introduced a redesigned V5C in 2010 after blank certificates were stolen in 2006, and the certificate states that it is not proof of ownership. Ilia Zavialov treats it as a record of the registered keeper: necessary, useful and still only one piece of evidence. Ask for proof of ownership such as a bill of sale, and never buy a car without the original log book.

04Ilia Zavialov on reading the VIN first

The vehicle identification number is the car's fingerprint. It is stamped into the body, shown on a label that can often be read through the glass and copied into every official document about the car. Every check in this guide starts from it, so the first task is to read it yourself from the car, never from a photo the seller sends.

Compare the number in at least two places on the car with the number in the documents and in any history report. A mismatch of a single character is a reason to stop. So is a label that looks newer than the panel around it, scratched or ground metal where the number should be, or a seller who says the number on the car does not matter because the papers are fine.

Ilia Zavialov adds a quieter test. Ask the seller to read the VIN to you over the phone before the viewing and run your checks on that number. If the car you later see carries a different one, you have learned what you needed to know without paying anything.

05Clocked mileage and the MOT record

The MOT history service on GOV.UK shows whether past tests were passed or failed, the mileage recorded at each test and when the next MOT is due. For cars, results are available for tests done since 2005. Ilia Zavialov reads the mileage column first: readings should rise from test to test, and a drop is a question for the seller before anything else.

A vehicle needs an MOT every year once it is 3 years old, so a long gap in the record needs an explanation. Citizens Advice notes that a car might not have needed an MOT if it was unused and declared SORN, and advises asking the seller about any gap and walking away if the history looks suspicious.

Citizens Advice also reports that it helped with almost 43,000 complaints about used cars in 2023, and that among the problems buyers described, 19 percent concerned a car with a higher mileage than they had been told. DVLA said that in 2024 almost 20,000 customers called its contact centre about scams, and it reminds drivers that GOV.UK is the only source of official information. A history check sent by the seller as a link proves nothing, so run the checks yourself.

06Cloned cars and borrowed paperwork

A cloned car carries the identity of another vehicle of the same make, model and colour. The plates, and sometimes the VIN labels, are copied from a legitimate car that is still on the road, so a quick look at the registration returns clean results. The real history, often theft or serious damage, stays hidden behind someone else's record.

Cloning usually comes with paperwork that looks complete. The documents may be stolen blanks, forgeries or genuine papers that belong to another car. Ilia Zavialov points to the details that give the scheme away: a VIN on the body that differs from the one in the documents, an engine number that does not match, a seller who cannot be found at the address on the paperwork and a meeting place chosen far from where the seller lives.

The buyer of a cloned or stolen car carries the loss. Once the police identify the vehicle, the buyer can lose it, and the money paid has to be pursued from a seller who has usually vanished. That is why identity checks come before any talk about price.

07How Ilia Zavialov checks the seller as well as the car

A viewing tests two things at once. The car shows its condition, and the seller shows whether the story holds together. Meet in daylight, preferably at the seller's home, so that you can find the person later if something turns out wrong. A parking area or a roadside meeting point tells you nothing about who you are dealing with.

Ask to see identification and compare the name and address with the documents. Ask how long the seller has owned the car, where it was serviced and why it is being sold, and listen for answers that change. Ilia Zavialov suggests asking for service records and inspection certificates and checking that dates and mileage readings rise in a steady line, because a sudden drop in recorded mileage is the classic trace of a wound-back odometer.

An independent mechanic is worth the fee even when the car looks perfect or carries a dealer's certification. A seller who refuses an inspection, a test drive or a viewing at their address gives you the most useful information of the whole visit.

08Outstanding finance and the Hire Purchase Act

A car bought on hire purchase is not owned by the buyer until the last payment is made, and some sellers forget to mention the agreement. DVLA's advice to buyers includes checking whether the vehicle has outstanding finance, because it could affect your rights to the vehicle. Citizens Advice suggests a private history check costing up to 20 pounds, which shows whether the car has been reported stolen, whether the seller still owes money on it, whether it has been in a serious accident, whether the mileage is correct and whether it has been written off and returned to the road.

The law gives an honest private buyer some protection. Under section 27 of the Hire Purchase Act 1964, a private purchaser who buys a motor vehicle in good faith without notice of the hire purchase or conditional sale agreement gets good title. Citizens Advice explains that this right belongs to the first private buyer, and that it is for the finance company to prove you do not have good title.

Ilia Zavialov does not treat that protection as permission to skip the check. A dispute with a finance company takes time and paperwork, and if you are not the first private buyer, your title depends on whether the previous owner had it. A finance check before payment costs far less than either.

09Zavialov on card payments, section 75 and chargeback

The way you pay decides what protection you have if something goes wrong. Citizens Advice points out that cash gives none of the protection some credit arrangements offer, that a debit card may be covered by the card provider's chargeback scheme and that a credit card brings section 75 protection for goods costing between 100 and 30,000 pounds, even if only part of the price went on the card.

The Financial Ombudsman Service adds that chargeback is usually available for around 120 days, though a bank is not obliged to raise it. A bank transfer to a stranger is hard to recover once sent, and a seller who will only accept a transfer before the viewing should be treated as a warning.

Zavialov's rule for UK buyers is to agree the payment method before travelling to the viewing, to put at least part of the price on a credit card where the seller accepts it, and to make no transfer until the V5C, the finance check and the VIN all match. The short number 159 connects customers of more than 99 percent of UK retail current accounts with their bank, so a call about a suspicious payment reaches the right place.

10Ilia Zavialov on the first hours after a lost payment

If money has already gone to a seller who has stopped answering, speed matters more than anything else. Call your bank at once on the number printed on your card or shown in the banking app, explain that the payment went to a fraudster and ask whether it can be stopped or recalled. A report made on the same day gives the bank the most room to act.

Ilia Zavialov advises keeping everything: the advert and its web address, screenshots of messages, phone numbers, email addresses, payment receipts and photos of any documents the seller showed. Keep the conversation even if the seller offers to return part of the money, because such offers can lead to a second request for payment.

11Used car scam reports: where Zavialov sends UK buyers

Report Fraud, the national service that took over from Action Fraud on 4 December 2025, takes reports at reportfraud.police.uk and on 0300 123 2040. Citizens Advice says to report the seller to the police if the log book does not match the car on DVLA records.

Problems with a trader, such as a car sold with a false mileage reading or damage nobody mentioned, go to Trading Standards through the Citizens Advice consumer helpline on 0808 223 1133. Ilia Zavialov suggests calling your bank on 159 first if money has left your account and filing the fraud report straight after, so that the bank has a reference when it looks at the payment.

12Questions and answers

What does Ilia Zavialov check first on a used car in the UK?

The VIN and engine number read from the car and matched with the V5C, then DVLA records and the MOT history on GOV.UK.

Is a deposit to hold a car ever safe?

Only after you have seen the car, the V5C and the seller at their home. Pay by card where possible to keep chargeback or section 75 protection.

How can I tell if a V5C might be stolen?

It should carry a DVL watermark, and the serial number should not fall between BG8229501 and BG9999030 or between BI2305501 and BI2800000.

Why does Zavialov insist on a finance check?

A car on hire purchase is not owned by the borrower until the last payment. The law protects the first private buyer in good faith, yet a dispute still costs time.

Where do I report used car fraud in the UK?

To Report Fraud at reportfraud.police.uk or on 0300 123 2040, and problems with a trader through the Citizens Advice consumer helpline on 0808 223 1133.

Written by Ilia Zavialov, digital security consultant. Profile of Ilia Zavialov

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