It seems that nowadays people will do just about anything to own something with a premium badge, including buying one using fraudulent details.
That’s what an unnamed woman did in the UK, purchasing a black Range Rover Sport from a dealer in Hampshire, using someone else’s personal information. The victim only found out about it after receiving finance paperwork in the post.
Hampshire police released a picture of a woman standing next to the Range Rover Sport with her thumbs up in connection to the incident and are asking the public to contact them if they have any information on her.
Police authorities acknowledging that the woman might even live outside the Hampshire area. It’s safe to say that she has a lot of explaining to do.
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The vehicle is estimated to be worth approximately £40,000, or roughly $54,000 at today’s exchange rates – which means it was a used model. A brand new 2020 Range Rover Sport costs upwards of £65,295 in the UK and $69,500 in the U.S.
“Unfortunately, we do see cases like this land on our desks to untangle,” said Lawgistics legal adviser Nona Bowkis. “We have seen cases where an employee facilitated such a fraud but that is rare, and the most likely scenario here is that a person has faked a driving license to match the ID of the person whose identity and details they are fraudulently using.”
According to the Finance and Leasing Association (FLA), pictures taken during handovers can be used as an anti-fraud measure, although we can’t be sure if that’s the reasoning behind this particular photo, reports CarDealer.
“The industry works together to share information on these incidents and learn from them – a vitally important approach when trying to combat impersonation fraud,” explained Andrea Kinnear, head of communication at the FLA.
“One of the recent anti-fraud measures we’ve been discussing is the need for dealerships to take photos at the point when the car is handed over.”
Do you know this woman. We want to speak to her as part of an investigation into the use of fraudulent details to purchase a vehicle in #Fareham
Full details of this are on our website: https://t.co/CRLrynf9ch
Call 101 and quote 44200449096 if you know this person. pic.twitter.com/D19dGlNtCm
— Hampshire Police (@HantsPolice) December 22, 2020