Vehicle History check scam?

Grippy14

I advertised a vehicle for sale on facebook and got a reply from a potential buyer. he arranged a time to visit then asked before he came to view to send him a vehicle condition report using a particular service (Autofinest) stating that if it was ok he definitely would buy the car and add the cost of the report to the purchase price. I offered to use another service like the RAC but he was adamant that I used this particular one. I refused and cut off contact. I suspect he was getting paid commission and wouldn't have turned up once I'd paid for the report. Anyone else experienced this.

Mildly_Miffed

It's a scam, it's always a scam.

Not only do they get the few quid for the "check", but they also get your card details from the fake website.

Quick google for "autofinest" comes back as a bunch of detailing websites, nothing to do with any HPI-type check...

motorguy

Grippy14 said:

I advertised a vehicle for sale on facebook and got a reply from a potential buyer. he arranged a time to visit then asked before he came to view to send him a vehicle condition report using a particular service (Autofinest) stating that if it was ok he definitely would buy the car and add the cost of the report to the purchase price. I offered to use another service like the RAC but he was adamant that I used this particular one. I refused and cut off contact. I suspect he was getting paid commission and wouldn't have turned up once I'd paid for the report. Anyone else experienced this.

There'd have been a "charge" for you to get the report, plus they'd have your card details.  

Its all a rouse to get you to get you to pay the charge.

I'd a quick look at autofinest.co.uk and theres a £26 charge to you to get the check done.

If you plug in your details it takes you to a third party site to pay.

I'd say its a handful of people sitting in a room ringing half the country about cars for sale, that they'll definitely buy once you've paid for the check....

WellKnownSid

Domain created 4 days ago... I'd say!

Domain Expiry 2026-09-28T16:34:23Z
Domain last updated 2025-09-28T16:34:23.535093Z
Domain created 2025-09-28T16:34:23.493235Z 

ROY47

https://www.scamadviser.com/check-website/autofinest.co.uk 

Herzlos

The only search results for it are about it being a scam, and it doesn't seem to provide anything that the buyer couldn't do directly. 

Definitely a scam. 

CliveOfIndia

Out of curiosity I just had a look at the website.  Their contact email in the top right-hand corner is a gmail address.  That in itself is a massive red flag - no legitimate company would use a gmail address.

Grey_Critic

CliveOfIndia said:

Out of curiosity I just had a look at the website.  Their contact email in the top right-hand corner is a gmail address.  That in itself is a massive red flag - no legitimate company would use a gmail address.

A lot of small LEGITIMATE businesses use gmail addresses 

forgotmyname

CliveOfIndia said:

Out of curiosity I just had a look at the website.  Their contact email in the top right-hand corner is a gmail address.  That in itself is a massive red flag - no legitimate company would use a gmail address.

Sadly they do and some even use their internet providers email.   Setting up a website for a friend of friend and they insisted on using
their BT internet email. I had to explain that if they changed provider they are likely to lose access to that.

They eventually relented and setup a gmail, I just sent them links to posts where google closed peoples accounts for no reason
and said why pay for a domain and email hosting if your not going to use it whilst also making your company appear legitimate.