Woman in France loses €1,300 in online car hire scam

A woman has lost hundreds of euros to a scammer after trying to rent a car online ahead of her holiday in the south of France.

The woman used the OuiCar platform, which connects users with individuals willing to rent out their vehicle.

After making several requests, she was contacted by the apparent owner of a Peugeot 308, who offered her two weeks’ rental for €446, reports Le Parisien.

The woman then received an email regarding the vehicle and exchanged her details. When she received a link to pay, she clicked to settle by card. The first payment did not go through, but she tried again.

She then received a reassuring email that appeared to come from OuiCar, saying there was a technical error but all was now well. She then proceeded to pay the €400 deposit.

However, she had been scammed. There was no car to rent, her money had been stolen and the emails had not come from OuiCar, but from the scammer. She had a total of €1,300 stolen.

OuiCar cannot refund her because the transaction did not take place on its website and her bank has refused because she validated the payments each time with one-time codes sent to her phone.

As a first-time user of the website, the woman had not checked OuiCar’s terms and conditions, which state that all transactions and rental agreements must be made on the platform itself and not by separate email or payment link.

Antoine Lacharmoise, OuiCar marketing director, said: “We ban all users from exchanging email addresses and telephone numbers before payment.”

The woman had more issues in store: as part of the supposed rental process she had sent copies of her ID card and driving licence. The scammer used these to open three bank accounts in her name. She managed to get these shut down but still does not know the identity of the scammer.

The victim told Le Parisien: “Maybe he has done other things, I don’t know. I’m scared that I will discover other things in the days and weeks to come.”

The woman, who made a formal complaint on July 11, has also said she is not happy with OuiCar’s response.

But OuiCar has said it is not liable because all of the arrangements took place away from its site.

It states that it takes precautions to avoid scam adverts, but that some inevitably still fall through the net. It advises anyone using its site to only go via its own platform and never to exchange payment details or other data via email or other third-party means.

Anyone using similar websites, including car rentals or home rentals via Airbnb, is advised to keep all payments and communication within the platform itself, and not to use third-party sites, email, or messaging apps.

This means that there is a paper trail on the platform itself, and transactions are more secure. There is also a much higher chance that any payments will be refunded if you do fall victim to a scam.

OuiCar did not respond to The Connexion’s request for comment.

Read also

There is now a new way of reporting scams and fraud in France
Rise of private car rentals in France to beat company prices
Can I rent a van in France and drop it off in the UK afterwards?