Russia's "United Arab Emirates Low-Price Car" scam broke out: imported cars five times cheaper, but no car was seen later

Recently, Russia's fraud surrounding "low-priced imported cars from the United Arab Emirates" has increased significantly. Lawless elements are using flags such as "Dubai channels,""internal car sources" and "five times lower than the market price" to attract buyers...

According to Russian cybersecurity and automotive industry media SecPost, recent fraud around "low-priced imported cars from the United Arab Emirates" has increased significantly in Russian Telegram channels and instant messaging software. Lawless elements use flags such as "Dubai channel","internal vehicle source" and "five times below the market price" to attract buyers, targeting the current Russian parallel imported car market, which continues to heat up.

First, scammers are targeting the "United Arab Emirates parallel import" craze

Pavel Abakumov, an analyst at Jet CSIRT, a cyber threat monitoring arm of Jet Information Systems, said scams usually start with "closing the Telegram group." Such groups cannot be found through search and can only be entered through invitation links, creating the illusion of "internal resources" and "limited vehicle sources".

The entire process is designed much like a regular automobile trade:

Buyers leave a message in the group "Book";

"Customer Service" transfers customers to so-called "professional managers";

The other party will ask for personal information and constantly delay the time with reasons such as "queuing" and "tight vehicle source";

A so-called "local office address" will then be given to increase credibility.

The last step is to ask for a "deposit".

In order to lock in a car that is "only one-fifth of the market price", buyers are required to pay a prepayment of about 50,000 rubles, but no formal purchase contract will be signed throughout the process. SecPost pointed out that scammers often lose contact immediately when funds arrive.

Russian industry insiders explained that the reason why such scams occur in large numbers is that the United Arab Emirates has become an important transit point for Russian parallel imports. Data shows that Russia will import about 3200 vehicles from the United Arab Emirates in 2024; by 2025, this number will increase to about 10500 vehicles.

Industry estimates that 40%-60% of parallel imports from Western brands have gone through United Arab Emirates channels. The gray logistics chain is long, the supervision is weak, and the information is opaque, which naturally leaves room for fraud.

Second, fake logistics, AI pictures, and fake shipping websites come together

The report mentioned that current car scams are no longer as simple as "taking money and running away."

Some scammers will forge "shipping and logistics tracking systems":

Photos of renting real transport vehicles;

Counterfeit the website of an international logistics company;

Providing false shipping tracking numbers;

Create "real-time moving animations" of ships and trucks.

When the buyer sees that "the vehicle is in transit", he will continue to pay additional payments such as insurance premiums, port fees, and storage fees, but in fact the vehicle does not exist.

What's more noteworthy is that AI technology has begun to be used to forge vehicle information. Evgeny Egorov, an analyst at F6's digital risk protection department, pointed out that some scammers use AI to generate vehicle photos, customs documents and even port scene pictures, and then use them to brush the Telegram channel to create the illusion of "real vehicle origin."

For Russian buyers, because many transactions involve overseas companies, cross-border payments and multi-month waiting cycles, it is difficult to truly verify overseas entities, VIN codes and logistics chains, which also greatly increases the success rate of fraud.

Third, even if the car does arrive, there may be a "cyber security backdoor"

The report finally mentioned a new issue that deserves more attention from the automotive industry: even if parallel imported vehicles do exist, they may still pose cybersecurity risks.

Russia's "Traffic Safety Technology" company (TBT) pointed out that some smart cars imported through gray channels, especially China's new energy models, may still be bound to original accounts, temporary mobile phone numbers or third-party control rights.

If the seller retains the rights of the vehicle's main account, it may:

Remotely lock the door;

It is prohibited to start the vehicle;

Obtain vehicle positioning;

Control the vehicle through the app.

TBT disclosed that there have been cases in Russia where the gray imported car owner account of Li Auto (Ideal Car) was controlled. A dealer helped restore 47 "hijacked" accounts within a month, and some car owners were even extorted for an "unlocking fee" of 250,000 rubles.

In addition, OBD-II interfaces, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi modules may also be implanted into unauthorized tracking devices or modified software. In other words, even if the vehicle is legally licensed, it may still hide high information security risks.

written in the end

The biggest problem in Russia's parallel import market now is not just "where does the car come from", but "whether the entire chain is credible." For China's second-hand car exporters, this report is actually a reminder: When doing Russian business in the future, customers are increasingly concerned about not only price, but also account ownership, vehicle authority, logistics transparency and vehicle digital security. Low prices can attract customers, but what can really be done for a long time must be a regular chain with transparent process, complete data, transferable account number and traceability after sales. Especially in the era of new energy and smart cars,"selling cars" is not just a turnkey, but also a complete set of digital rights and data security.

Source: Guangdong Good Car

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