The ghost garage scam is very well established, so as to attract people looking for a high-performance car at a low price, without arousing their suspicions. It consists of setting up a garage intended for the sale of vehicles, which generally offers cars in good condition, at very reasonable prices, often lower than those on the market.
The aim behind this trade is to collect deposits from victims, which reach several thousand euros. Once the garage has amassed enough money, it disappears, leaving no trace of its existence. The victim then finds himself without a vehicle and without a deposit, without any proof of the transaction carried out. In detail, these criminals attract potential buyers through attractive advertisements published on the internet. They invite them to go to the garage to discover the vehicle.
Buyers realize, once there, that the vehicle perfectly matches the description in the ad, which dispels suspicions. They therefore agree, without fear, to pay a deposit. The scammer explains to them that they will be able to recover their vehicle a few days later, when the rest of the amount is paid. However, when the big day arrives, the victim finds the garage empty and realizes the deception.
“Everything seemed correct”: more than twenty victims of the scam in Pas-de-Calais
Among the victims of the ghost garage scam, Maxence Alloy, a young man who spoke about his experience to TF1. “Everything seemed okay. The car was in good condition. The papers were available. I thought I would have my car on Monday. And in the end, no car, no more money,” he said. He explains that he had found an SUV for sale online, priced at 7,200 euros.
He then decides to go to the garage, located in Noyelles-sous-Lens in Pas-de-Calais, to examine the vehicle more closely. The young man, who explains that he needed this vehicle for his work, paid a deposit of 5,700 euros before the disappearance of the ghost garage. And it must be said that this is not an isolated case, since the Noyelles garage caused a total of around twenty victims.
Among them, the plumber Florent Lemaire, who explains that he approached the garage to buy a utility vehicle for his work. He says he went into debt to pay the deposit that was requested of him, which was for a sum of 1,100 euros. “I needed this truck, and I had raised the money to work on it. I borrowed 7,000 euros and I financed 4,000 euros from my cash flow,” he lamented on TF1.
