Hard-up criminals set their sights on rental fleets

The short-term rental sector was hit by a recession-induced crime wave last year, with the annual BVRLA Theft and Fraud Survey reporting a 12% rise in vehicle thefts. BVRLA members faced a range of threats, including opportunistic thieves, fraudsters and gangs of organised criminals.

A 22% jump in the number of stolen cars during 2008 overshadowed a drop in HGV and van thefts, which fell by 29% and 2% respectively. The total number of vehicles stolen rose to a record high of 1,937 in 2008, costing the rental sector around £7m in vehicle replacement and recovery charges and lost income.

Members also provided the BVRLA with anecdotal evidence that car thieves have been down-sizing, with a higher proportion of small and medium-sized vehicles being targeted. As a result, many members are now fitting tracking devices to their volume marques instead of just their prestige vehicles.

Types of theft and recovery rates
Nearly half (48%) of all stolen vehicles are taken from the hirer, while 25% are actually stolen by the hirer, often using false credit cards or identification. A further 14% were stolen from rental company premises and 11% were taken during delivery or collection.

The vehicle recovery rate showed a slight improvement, rising to 77% in 2007 from 76% the year before. This left the industry with a net loss of 446 vehicles.

Organised crime
As in previous surveys, organised crime has been a feature of this year’s statistics.

The ‘Portuguese Scam’
Vehicle rental reservations were made online by fraudsters holding Portuguese/Angolan passports and using a genuine credit card or pre-paid travel voucher. When the renters turned up at the rental counter they presented another credit card, which turned out to be forged or cloned. At least three BVRLA members were caught out by this fraud and up to 10 vehicles stolen.

The ‘Lithuanians’
A group with Lithuanian connections was active in the latter part of 2008, re-emerging in March/April 2009. The scam involved male hirers renting vehicles at Stansted and Gatwick airports with counterfeit credit cards, fake documents and false addresses in East London. The vehicles were advertised and sold on to unsuspecting individuals for cash. Fourteen vehicles were stolen this way and police believe there has been at least one other series of thefts developed from this scam.

“With the recession biting hard, rental company vehicles are at ever greater risk of being stolen,” said BVRLA chief executive, John Lewis.

“Rental members using our RISC Online risk management database have reported a 45% increase in ‘problem’ renters compared to last year. Sharing this data among the industry has helped us prevent 230 potential crimes so far this year.”