KUALA LUMPUR: Lured by cheap prices, buyers of outstanding loan vehicles often find themselves caught in a vicious cycle of fraud.
Marzuki (not his real name), a repeat buyer of such cars, said buyers often had a fleeting moment of owning these vehicles before they got "carjacked" by the very syndicate that sold them their vehicles.
Marzuki said the syndicates' deceptive tactics included planting Global Positioning System (GPS) trackers inside the vehicles.
After some time, the vehicles would be tracked by the syndicate members, who then carjack the unsuspecting buyers and resell the vehicle again, some up to eight times.
"They will sell it to you, but what you don't know is that they have planted a tracking device underneath the seat or inside the car.
"They will allow you to use the car for a month or two, and after that, they will get their friends to 'repossess' the vehicle," he said.
Marzuki, who is from Bukit Mertajam, Penang, claimed to have devised a way to outsmart the syndicates.
"I will dismantle the kereta JT and transfer the spare parts onto vehicles involved in accidents.
"It only takes me and my friends three days to disassemble one vehicle and transplant its parts onto another frame.
"So when the repossessors return to take the vehicles, they will only find a cannibalised frame," he said, adding that he disassembled the cars on a farm and disposed of the unusable parts in a nearby river.
Marzuki claimed that while selling vehicle parts might take time, it could yield a higher profit than selling an entire vehicle.
"If you sell it piece by piece, the price can go up to four times higher than selling a complete vehicle.
For a Toyota Vellfire or BMW, spare parts are not cheap. Selling a whole kereta JT or kereta piang may fetch RM30,000, but selling the parts separately can fetch up to RM80,000," he said.
Besides GPS trackers, the syndicates also targeted cars with "protection" stickers.
He shared an incident involving a financially troubled friend, who fell for the syndicates' ruse after illegally buying a Mercedes Benz.
"One day, my friend had his car taken away by the syndicate, but they offered him a protection sticker for RM500 and to let go of the car.
"He paid the sum but three days later, another repossessor came and demanded RM 500 from him," he said.
Meanwhile, a repossessor said that these syndicates would also use duplicate keys when carjacking the vehicles.
"The buying and selling process can take place in a mamak restaurant.
"The buyers will inspect the cars and if they believe there is no report on the vehicle (indicating theft), they will make the purchase.
"They get their car, post a few pictures on social media in the morning and by evening, their cars will be jacked by syndicate members with duplicate keys," he said.
