8:02 am, July 11, 2020
A car dealer has issued a scam warning after he narrowly avoided losing a £40k Porsche in a shocking Bounce Back Loan fraud.
Stephen Bogan, who runs a prestige dealer James Glen Car Sales in Airdrie, Scotland, has posted a Facebook warning video explaining how a customer attempted to buy a Porsche Cayman GTS using a Bounce Back Loan fraudulently applied for in the car dealer’s name.
Bogan – who runs the business with his father Jim – said the customer had used bank details from the invoice and his personal details found online to apply for a Bounce Back Loan in the company’s name in an attempt to trick them into thinking the money was from the fraudster.
The car dealer explained that ‘alarm bells’ rang when the customer ‘from London’ said he didn’t want to see the car and pay for it in full.
Bogan said: ‘It smelt a bit funny from the off. All he wanted to know about the car was what the tyres were like. Alarm bells were there.’
The fraudster said he worked for a company called ‘BB Ltd’ and that his secretary would send Bogan the money.
When the cash arrived, listed in the dealer’s bank as arriving from BBL Ltd, Bogan called Bank of Scotland to check the funds were legitimate and couldn’t be withdrawn.
Bogan said: ‘Low and behold, the balance for the full amount for this car showed up in our account in about half an hour. But BBL Ltd actually stands for Bounce Back Loan.
‘This rotter had asked for an invoice with bank details on it, he’s gone online and got my date of birth and address for the business and applied for a f****** Bounce Back Loan in my name to the tune of £40k pounds to make it look like he’s paid for this car and expects us to release it when we have got the money – which we have – but it’s my own bloody money!’
Bounce Back Loans can be applied for by any small business up to £50,000 and the process is designed to be quick and easy.
The simple form can be filled in online on a bank’s website and the funding can be approved and sent to a company account within hours.
When he announced the scheme, Chancellor Rishi Sunak said that banks would only perform ‘customary’ checks on applicants, telling MPs: ‘For most firms loans will arrive within 24 hours of approval.’
Father Stephen Bogan, told Car Dealer Magazine that Bank of Scotland’s handling of the case has been ‘shocking’.
‘This was due in no small part that they had no exposure whatsoever,’ he said.
‘There was a total lack of concern. We have sent the money back, but I cannot believe it has happened.
‘When the customer called back he asked if we had received the money. When we questioned that it was a Bounce Back Loan he insisted the money was from him and that he would send us proof – of course we never heard from him again after that.
‘If we’d released the car we’d have lost the money on that and had to pay the loan back so we could have potentially lost £80k!’
James Bogan added: ‘You need to be unbelievably vigilant because there are some absolute toe rags out there that are going to manipulate these Bounce Back Loans.
‘I am seething and can’t believe how angry I am.’
A Bank of Scotland spokesperson said: ‘Helping keep our customers’ money safe is a top priority and, as per British Business Bank scheme guidelines, all bounce back loan applications are subject to appropriate fraud checks.
‘We take any reports of fraud extremely seriously and are fully investigating the circumstances of this individual case.’
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