Car dealers warned Russians about fraudsters when selling cars

A scheme has become widespread in the Russian market, according to which motorists who are under the influence of fraudsters try to sell cars at an undervalued price. This was reported by the Rolf dealer company, Rossiyskaya Gazeta reported on May 14.

It is noted that dealers, together with law enforcement agencies, are trying to combat this. For example, a customer of one dealership tried to sell a 2021 Mazda CX-30 crossover for 2.1 million rubles at a market price of about 2.5 million rubles. Another client was going to sell a Geely Tugella car worth 2.5 million rubles cheaply. Both times, car owners were influenced by fraudsters.

In the first case, a controlled transaction was carried out as part of operational measures — the attackers were detained while trying to receive funds. In the second case, during the joint work of the dealer's security service and the police, a courier who arrived to receive funds was detained, and a criminal case was opened under the article on attempted fraud.

The company noted that professional market participants are moving from a reactive model (when an incident is responded to after the fact) to a proactive fraud prevention strategy.

Experts attribute the increase in fraud to an increase in the share of online communications, a difficult market situation, an increase in the number of private transactions on the secondary market and insufficient financial and legal literacy of clients. The attackers apply psychological pressure, create a sense of urgency and convince car owners to make decisions in a limited time.

Kainova seal: which car brands may leave Russia

Dealers are selling off the remains of Kaiyi cars

Earlier in the day, it was reported that by the end of January – April 2026, the demand for crossovers and SUVs with mileage in Russia increased by 27% compared to the same period last year, and the average price of such a car was 2.25 million rubles.