BSP and PNP-HPG Warn
the Public Against Auto
Loan Scams
Rizal Commercial Banking
Corporation
Banko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and the Philippine National Police Highway Highway
Patrol Group (PNP-HPG) warn the public
against fraudulent vehicle loan schemes.
These crimes are committed by car theft
syndicates via various modi operandi. They use
fake plate numbers, conduction stickers,
employment certificates, and identification
cards. Sometimes, they resort to identity theft
by using a real person’s information with a
different photo.
The Scammers’ Modi Operandi
Besides gun and knife-point intimidations, car theft syndicates are now using various
schemes to fool vehicle owners, car dealers, and banks. BSP and PNP-HPG disclosed the
details of the various methods used by the car theft syndicates.
In a Pasalo-Benta scam, a car thief buys a
vehicle from a seller. The agreement would
have the thief assume responsibility for the
seller’s auto loan. Of course, the thief has no
intention to do so and will instead sell the
vehicle to a buyer using falsified documents for
a profit.
The bank providing the auto loan still
possesses the vehicle’s original certificates of
registration and may still recover it with the assistance of law enforcement agencies. The
buyer, however, may not recover their money as they are holding falsified documents.
There is an even more harmful version of this scam. A Pasalo-Benta-Bawi scam involves
everything done in a Pasalo-Benta scam.
However, the car thief also installs a GPS tracker
into the vehicle before selling it. They then
report to authorities and claim that they were
the victim of a Pasalo-Benta scam committed by
the buyer, allowing the thief to reclaim the
vehicle.
The Labas-Casa-Talon scam is similar to
Pasalo-Benta. The scammer convinces a victim
to use their name for a car loan.
They tell the victim that the vehicle will be used for business purposes, that they will pay
for the loan, and will hand the vehicle over to the vi