Fake motor finance compensation offers being made by scammers

Fraudsters are posing as car finance lenders with bogus offers of compensation, consumers are being warned.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in Britain said it has received recent reports of scammers calling people and offering fake compensation in exchange for personal details such as their name, address, date of birth and bank information.

This follows the FCA’s recent announcement of a potential car finance compensation scheme.

The regulator is reminding people that no compensation scheme is in place yet.

It said car finance lenders are not yet contacting customers about compensation.

People should hang up immediately if they receive such calls and avoid sharing any personal information, the regulator said.

Scam calls and texts should be reported by forwarding them to 7726.

In general, people should contact the police and their bank if they are worried they may have fallen for a scam.

Many banks have signed up to the simple-to-remember 159 phone number service, putting people through to their bank if they are worried about any suspect contact.

Nisha Arora, director of special projects at the FCA, said: “We’re aware of scammers calling people and posing as car finance lenders, offering fake compensation and asking for personal details. There is no compensation scheme in place yet. If anyone receives a call like this, hang up immediately and do not share any information.”

The FCA recently announced that it will consult on a compensation scheme.

Many motor finance firms were not complying with rules or the law by not providing customers with relevant information about commission paid by lenders to the car dealers who sold the loans, it said previously.

Nikhil Rathi, chief executive of the FCA, said previously: “It will take time to establish a scheme but we hope to start getting people any money they are owed next year.”