Dubai: A man who took out a Dh40,500 bank loan to buy a car he spotted advertised online says he is the victim of an alleged fraud and is warning others not to fall into the same trap.
Pawan Kumar, an Ajman resident who works as an engineer in Abu Dhabi, said he had wanted to buy a used Volkswagen Tiguan from a seller in Cyprus.
False assurance
The 31-year-old Indian said: "I liked the look of the car. It was a 2009 model and I went to a VW showroom to check the cost of a new 2010 model, which was about Dh113,000, so the used one was a third of the cost."
He telephoned the seller, a British national based on the island, and was told he should wire transfer half the money as advance and the rest before the car is shipped over.
He said: "He gave me a lot of assurances and sent me photographs and a car fitness certificate and told me it would take two weeks for me to get the car. He also promised to send the shipping documents so that I could collect the vehicle."
XPRESS has seen receipts for the transfers, which show Dh10,480 was transferred on August 23, Dh10,000 on August 27, Dh14,865.50 and Dh5,134.50 in separate amounts on August 30.
"He didn't send me any shipping documents, and when I called he wouldn't pick up. Eventually, someone else answered and said he [the seller] had had an accident so could not deal with the issue. I also contacted the person whose name was mentioned on the bill of lading [document issued by a carrier to a shipper] but he said the car was in Jordan. I then contacted the shipping company but was told their logo may have been improperly used and that their legal department was investigating it," he said.
Kumar is now left out of pocket and forced to pay off a monthly bank loan. He said: "I want to warn people to be more careful about adverts from people outside the UAE."
XPRESS tried to contact the British national called Alexander Webster who had advertised the car sale, but the line was dead.
