[ksgehlot]

Mod Note: Police FIR has been verified. Please help locate / identify this person.




This post is specially for all the car dealers across India. The guy on the left has been taking delivery of the car by giving a Fake DD and giving reference of known people in the local area. Every time he takes the delivery he changes his name and takes the car on a fake ID. His actual name is still not clear and he usually does this in Rajasthan , Haryana and Punjab. Kindly forward this message if anyone knows any car dealer. Also anyone having any information about him please PM me.

[vinit.merchant]

That sounds like straight out of the movie "Catch me if you can".

But, what happens now? the car now is in the name of the fraudster without paying for it? The dealer will have all the details of the car like VIN, Chassis No, etc but can he legally bind the vehicle ? or just file a case for fraud against the person (and have no claim on the vehicle whatsoever)?

[Wildy]

Blame the dealers for their mistakes. How could they deliver the cars without encashing the DD?

[allien936]

Exactly.This is the dealer's fault. Should encash the DD first.Now the dealer will blame it on the sales executive. Throw him/her out of the job.

[Zappo]

I don't think there is much at fault here in terms of what most are talking about. DDs are accepted in lieu of personal cheques mainly because of 1 differentiating factor. Unlike a cheque I don't need to wait for encashment. It's a bank's guarantee to the other parties that they will get reimbursed as stated on the DD. It's much like you accepting a currency note issued by the RBI. Do you wait for someone to accept it before you complete your part of the obligation for which you get paid in cash?

However, this is a case of fraud. Just like some one can indulge in forgery and pass off fake currency notes this is also a case of this man passing off fake DDs. I think Police needs to trace the man urgently.

P.S.: Do you think this guy takes the deliveries and then runs a taxi fleet with the cars? Well, he can but chances are it won't matter even if you find him. You will probably never recover the cars from him.

[akshay4587]

Dealer is at fault here!!!
In the past, we have had cars delivered to us, only after encashment of DD and confirmation of payment by the dealer.
Coming to that conman, he looks too shabby to take a delivery of an Ecosport, and how can people do this at his age.
Pretty sure, he is either selling the cars to NE/Nepal or taking them apart and selling as parts.

[vinit.merchant]

Originally Posted by akshay4587

Coming to that conman, he looks too shabby to take a delivery of an Ecosport, and how can people do this at his age.
Pretty sure, he is either selling the cars to NE/Nepal or taking them apart and selling as parts.

Does he need to do that?
Considering the car is already in his "fake" name, he can easily sell the car in the resale market at 70% of the value and people will buy it. The person buying it will have full right on the car I guess. Dealer has lost his right on the vehicle once it was registered.

Dont the dealers accept the payment first before sending the car for registration? This guy has conned them on multiple occasions. Wonder how.

[@Chaand]

A few bad apples. This is bad for the industry in general and worser for the customers. Now, if a genuine customer does to the dealer with a genuine DD, then the dealer having learnt his lesson will ensure that his account is funded before releasing the car.

However, agree that this is indeed the dealers fault as in these days of CTS (Cheque Truncation System or in a day clearing) dealer should have waited for the DD to clear first. Maybe he got conned by the unassuming looks of the customer.

Genuine customers will suffer. Having said that I wonder which genuine customer in these days of electronic payment would go in and collect a DD as payment towards a 4 wheeler.

[avdhesh15]

What next... fake DD by customer in this incident and bounced cheques by Skoda dealers in Mumbai! I wonder how the trust factor is to be bridged in the future.

Another surprising element is that this is rampantly happening in the age of social media. I thought this would have been common news by now among dealers considering the multiple occasions on which this has apparently happened.

Originally Posted by akshay4587

Coming to that conman, he looks too shabby to take a delivery of an Ecosport

Dude - I have seen farmers walking into premium car showrooms with bags of cash and wanting to drive out with cars. Farmers and land owners in areas such as Gurgaon, Panvel and Sanand have minted so much money that a lot of us can only dream of.

In my line of work, I have personally met quite a few folks who must be worth well into 8 digits but would wear the most discreet clothes possible.

Read THIS article as an example.

[GTO]

Mod Note: The Police FIR has been verified.

@ Ksgehlot - sorry to hear about this happening at your dealership. Glad you guys got this picture though. It's not easy to hide in India and I'm certain the Police will find this thief / your car soon.

@ Others: Whatever the type of deal, don't trust demand drafts. This is an old scam. I remember way back in the late '90s how Popular Car Bazaar from Mumbai was swindled out of a Tata Safari by a customer with a fake demand draft. Until the money is in your account, a demand draft is just a worthless piece of paper.

Also, if anyone can identify him but wishes to remain anonymous, please drop an email via this page. Your identity will be kept 100% confidential.

[Warwithwheels]

The internal controls of the dealership needs to be seriously beefed up! Normally, it takes atleast 3 working days after the receipt of FULL payment for the car to be delivered. Processing of sale letter, Form 20 generation, insurance and registration cannot be done on the same day.

Assuming the DD was given on Day 1, by the end of the 3 day process, they should have known the status if the payment. Gross negligence I must say.

And moreover, someone paying full cash instead of opting for a loan should have triggered the caution. (assuming he paid full value by cheque).

[Yeldo]

Originally Posted by Warwithwheels

And moreover, someone paying full cash instead of opting for a loan should have triggered the caution.

Agreed with all your points but this one.

If people buying cars with full cash are being suspected, a lot of including yours truly here are going to be frisked and scanned with metal detectors.

Originally Posted by avdhesh15

What next... fake DD by customer in this incident and bounced cheques by Skoda dealers in Mumbai! I wonder how the trust factor is to be bridged in the future.

Dude - I have seen farmers walking into premium car showrooms with bags of cash and wanting to drive out with cars.

There is no such thing as trust in money matters. Money is money, trust won't fill up your bank account.

And yes, a lot of people buy vehicles with cash payment. But it is increasingly
getting rare.

Originally Posted by @Chaand

... in these days of CTS (Cheque Truncation System or in a day clearing) dealer should have waited for the DD to clear first. ... Having said that I wonder which genuine customer in these days of electronic payment would go in and collect a DD as payment ..

DD's are pretty very much dead, except as Ernest Money Deposits in Tender processes. That itself should have triggered suspicions.

[vinjosep]

Originally Posted by ksgehlot

This post is specially for all the car dealers across India. The guy on the left has been taking delivery of the car by giving a Fake DD and giving reference of known people in the local area. Also anyone having any information about him please PM me.

Originally Posted by GTO

@ Ksgehlot - sorry to hear about this happening at your dealership. Glad you guys got this picture though. It's not easy to hide in India and I'm certain the Police will find this thief / your car soon.

Ksgehlot: Since this seems to have happened in your dealership, you would have a first-hand knowledge of the modus operandi, I guess. For the benefit of others, could you put in brief how this person goes about with the fraud?

I'm sure this would be more than helpful for others in the business.

Also any hints on what happens to the car(s) based on the previously reported cases? Are they also of the same make, Ford?

To be frank, the person in the picture looks like a humble old-timer. He knows how to play his part for sure, no?

Good luck!

[blackasta]

Originally Posted by Yeldo

DD's are pretty very much dead, except as Ernest Money Deposits in Tender processes. That itself should have triggered suspicions.

That's funny - considering the fact that I bought my car 6 years back with full payment in form of DD.
But dealer took the required time to get the DD's encashed and then registered/delivered the car to me.

Also - OT - I have bought (used) cars writing personal checks in USA.

[Sinner666]

Dealerships usually have telephone numbers for most of the banks, and they call up and verify the DD before releasing the car.

At least that is what happened, when we bought our Etios Liva yesterday. Got the DD from the bank, sent a whatsapp picture of it to the sales person, who forwarded it to his accounts dept. who verified the DD from the bank. (Don't know if there is a centralized number for each bank to verify DDs or they call up the individual branches).
Walked into the dealership a couple of hours later, handed over the DD, completed the formalities, and drove out in another hour.

And yeah, 90% of the car value was financed by the bank. Don't know how this guy pulled it off.