Dealers News South Africa

Vehicle finance fraud rising

The Sowetan reports that there has been a sharp rise in "hula-hoop" schemes where debt-ridden consumers attempt to get someone else to take over payments on a vehicle. It says that these schemes are not only risky, but also illegal.

According to the Sowetan report, the vehicle remains the property of the bank until all payments are made and, once the final payment is made, the original buyer owns the vehicle and not the consumer who has been making the payments.

Nicholas Litton, head of risk at WesBank, says that very often the person who takes over payments stops paying the account and the person who bought the car in the first place has no car and a large arrears bill, according to the Sowetan report.

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