The police exposed and detained a 22-year-old resident of the Volyn region, who was selling cars rented from private individuals.
This was reported by the press service of the Lviv region police.
According to the pre-trial investigation, the defendant rented cars from private individuals and then sold them. He placed advertisements for the sale on popular specialized websites. To attract buyers, he quoted a price below the market price.
Thus, the defendant rented a Mitsubishi Pajero SUV from a resident of the Lviv region. He told the owner of the car that he would allegedly provide transportation services during wedding ceremonies. But the very next day he sold this car for $7,300. Moreover, the market price of such a car in our country at that time was more than $10,000.
Whether the parties drew up a written agreement is not indicated. It is only reported that after discussing the amount of the rent and other terms of the lease, the owner of the Mitsubishi Pajero handed over the vehicle itself, as well as the technical passport, to the attacker.
One of the owners of a rental car saw an advertisement on the Internet for the sale of his vehicle. Immediately after this, he filed a statement with the police.
Based on these facts, police investigators opened criminal proceedings under Part 2.3 of Art. 289 (Illegal seizure of a vehicle) and Part 3 of Art. 190 (Fraud) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The maximum punishment under these articles provides for imprisonment for a term of up to 12 years.
The materials of the criminal case and the indictment have already been sent to court. The pre-trial investigation established that the defendant sold at least four cars that he rented. In fact, there could have been more criminal episodes. The scammer was very convincing. The buyers were residents of Kyiv, Lvov, Khmelnitsky and Rivne.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs has repeatedly called on Ukrainians to be very careful when buying cars online. To attract buyers, scammers usually sell problem cars at a price below the market price. At the same time, they convincingly and plausibly explain why they sell cars at such a price. Therefore, if a car costs less than it should actually cost, then this alone should alert buyers. You also don’t need to trust, for example, a copy of your passport shown through the messenger. This is not a confirmation of the seller's reliability.
