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Fraudsters claiming to work for the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) have sold fake plastic licence cards and test certificates online. However, in some cases, prospective buyers never receive the fake documentation after paying upfront for the illegal certificates.
Victims are then stuck as they cannot report to the police that they were trying to buy a fake licence for fear of criminal action.
However, fraudsters also take a range of the customer’s personal information such as their address, date of birth and passport photos.
Exposing this level of personal information could even leave buyers open to further identify fraud attacks in the future.
One driver revealed she came across a scammers account on Instagram and paid £500 to pass her test.
The scammer sent over her licence details on the “view your licence” website but this information turned out to be completely fake.
The driver revealed she never received a plastic card through the post and was desperate to get her money back after falling foul of the scheme.
Messages between the customer and scammer revealed that the “view your licence” page clearly showed the customer had a “full driving licence” despite never taking the test.
Further investigations found that the images used by scammers were simply mock-ups and use licence numbers which were not on the DVLA’s database.
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This means those drivers who were stopped by police officers would come up as driving without a valid licence.
Drivers caught behind the wheel without a full licence would face heavy penalties including a massive £1,000 fine.
Offenders could also be hit with six points on their driving licence and may even be disqualified from the roads.
Some customers did receive documents from scammers with one driver revealing their fake theory test policy.
The driver even then revealed if they didn’t pass their real test they would go back for a practical licence.
However, after studying the documents provided to motorists, the DVLA confirmed these were not legal or official.
The DVLA have warned this was a scam and “not genuine” documents which motorists could use on the road.
A DVLA spokesperson said: “Only DVLA can issue a driving licence. We can confirm that the examples seen are not genuine.”
The Driving Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has also warned drivers about the consequences of purchasing the fake documents.
They warn that this was “illegal” and could put other full licence holders in “serious danger”.
A statement said: “The driving test is there to make sure all drivers have the skills and knowledge to use the roads safely and responsibly.
“Trying to circumvent it is illegal and a serious danger to road users.”
The analysis revealed schemes were operating in various parts of the country with customers coming from major cities such as Liverpool and London.
Customers were also identified trying to secure fake driving licences from areas of North Yorkshire, Bradford and Birmingham.
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