The most common forms of Nettiauto scams

Numerous scams occur each year via Nettiauto and other car sales sites. The scams often involve significant sums, as consumers lose up to hundreds of thousands of euros each year in car trading scams.

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Car scams can be especially difficult to recognise, because scammers are often skilled car sellers who know the field well. The scams often involve distorting the car’s technical details or hiding faults, which can be hard to detect without expertise.

The most common forms of Nettiauto scams:

Tampering with the odometer reading – The car’s mileage has been rolled back to raise the car’s value.
Hiding or downplaying faults – Faults in the car are not mentioned in the listing or are downplayed.
Foreign sellers and advance payments – "Cheap cars" to be imported from abroad, for which an advance payment is requested.
Stolen cars – Selling stolen or otherwise illegal cars with false papers.
Hiding crash damage – The car’s crash history is not disclosed or the damage has been repaired unprofessionally.
Falsifying the service history – Entries in the service booklet have been altered or forged.
Financing fraud – The car is sold even though it has an ownership reservation from a financing company, whereby the buyer has to pay for the car twice.
Import car scams – Cars imported from abroad with forged papers or hidden problems.
"Too good to be true" listings – Significantly underpriced cars that lure people into advance payments.

Payment scam with a bank demo app

The police have warned about a scam against sellers, in which a criminal uses a Finnish bank’s old demo app to create the impression that a payment is on its way to the seller’s account. The app looks genuine and the payment event is hard to recognise as a scam. In reality the money never comes. Remember the most important rule: do not hand over the car or its papers before you have confirmed, via your own online bank, that the money is really in your account. A screenshot or app view shown by the buyer alone is not enough.

Forged payment messages and invoices in the service’s name

Increasingly common are messages claiming the buyer has paid a guarantee or booking fee for the car, and the seller is urged to go to a link to "confirm" or "receive" the money. The link leads to a phishing site that may imitate, for example, Posti or Matkahuolto. In early 2026, unfounded invoices in the service’s name have also been circulating. Nettiauto or Alma Media never sends an invoice or payment link relating to car trading in the service’s messages, by email or by text message. If you receive one, it is a scam.

Fiksut kaupat and verified payment

Nettiauto’s own Fiksut kaupat service is a safe way to make a private deal: the buyer and seller identify themselves, the bill of sale is signed electronically, and the money is transferred to the seller only once the buyer has confirmed receipt of the vehicle. This way neither party is scammed on the payment. When you deal with a stranger, a verified payment protects clearly better than a direct bank transfer or cash before the car is handed over.

How to recognise a suspicious car listing?

When browsing Nettiauto’s listings, pay attention to these warning signs:

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Unrealistically low price – If the car’s price is clearly below the market price, the reason may be either a scam or a hidden fault.
Few photos or poor-quality photos – If the listing has only a few blurry photos, the seller may be hiding the car’s real condition.
Incomplete information about the car’s history – It is suspicious if the seller cannot tell you about the car’s previous owners or service history.
Illogical mileage readings – If the mileage is unusually low relative to the car’s age, the odometer may have been tampered with.
Pressure for a quick decision – The seller claims there are many enquiries about the car and urges you to act quickly.
A foreign seller without a Finnish bank account – The buyer is asked to pay abroad or use unusual payment methods.
The seller will not have the car inspected – If the car is uninspected and the seller will not take it for inspection, it may be an attempt to hide faults.
The seller refuses a test drive or inspection – A red flag is raised if the seller will not agree to an inspection carried out by a professional.

Always investigate the seller’s background carefully. In a business deal, check the company’s details and consumer protection. For a private seller, confirm the personal details and ask to see an identity document. Also pay attention to the seller’s behaviour and response speed – professional scammers are often very convincing and reply quickly to messages.

Ensuring a safe car purchase

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Check the car’s background information – Use Traficom’s paid service or other background services to find out the car’s history, owners, insurance and any encumbrances from a financing or insurance company.
Carry out a thorough inspection – Preferably use an impartial professional to check the car’s condition. Pay attention to corrosion damage, fluid leaks and differences in the paint surface.
Ask about the service history – Ask to see the service booklet and check that the entries are genuine by contacting the service points.
Use reliable payment methods – Never pay in advance. Prefer a bank transfer or a payment that leaves a document.
Make a written sales agreement – Make sure all terms, guarantees and the car’s shortcomings are recorded in the agreement.
Check the owner’s identity – Make sure the seller is the owner named in the register extract or has a power of attorney from the owner.
Do a test drive – Drive the car a sufficiently long distance in different conditions. Also drive on a main road so that you can assess the car’s behaviour at higher speeds.
Check the registration and insurance details – Make sure the car is in the register, inspected and insured.

Note that the car’s last inspection date and the valid vehicle tax must often also be mentioned in connection with vehicle sales listings. If this information is missing, ask the seller for a more detailed explanation.

Odometer scams and how to recognise them

One of the most common car trading scams is manipulation of the odometer reading. Here are instructions on how you can recognise and avoid these scams:

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Compare the odometer reading with the car’s wear – If the wear on the car’s parts does not match the stated mileage, the odometer may have been manipulated.
Check the inspection history – In Traficom’s data you can see the mileage figures reported at previous inspections.
Consider the service intervals – If the entries in the service booklet are not logical or have gaps, it can indicate manipulation.
Pay attention to the wearing parts – The wear on the pedals, steering wheel, gearbox and seats tells you about the car’s real use.
Check the digital service history – Many authorised dealers have a digital service history that shows previous services and mileage figures.
Use an OBD reader – A professional can check history data from the car’s computer that may reveal the real mileage.

Odometer scams are especially common in import cars, so with a car imported from abroad it is worth being extra careful. Note that odometer readings can be manipulated professionally without visible traces, so checking the background information is the best way to protect yourself against a scam.

VIN checker - check the car’s vehicle identification number

Check the car’s 17-character vehicle identification number (VIN): the tool checks the format, calculates the official check digit to reveal forgeries and states the manufacturer and the estimated model year. The tool has been moved to its own page.

Avaa VIN-tarkistin →

Scams relating to cars imported from abroad

Import cars involve particular risks, and many car scams focus precisely on them:

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Selling non-existent cars – Scammers show photos of non-existent cars and ask for an advance payment for importing the car.
Hiding crash damage – Cars crashed abroad are hastily refurbished and sold without mentioning the crash history.
Stolen cars – Cars stolen in another EU country are imported to Finland for sale with forged papers.
Hidden environmental classifications – The car may be in such an environmental class that it could not be imported to Finland without expensive modifications.
Tax evasion – Evading the car tax by giving false information about the car’s features or price.
Incomplete documents – The documents needed for registration may be incomplete, whereby the car cannot be registered in Finland.

If you are considering buying a car imported from abroad, always confirm the car’s original documents and ask to see an EU certificate of conformity (COC certificate). Also check who handles the payment of the car tax and the registration in Finland. The safest option is to use a trustworthy car dealership that takes responsibility for importing the car and for the correctness of the documents.

How to act if you suspect you have been scammed

If you have already bought a car and suspect you have been targeted by a scam, act quickly:

Document everything – Gather together all documents, messages, receipts and evidence of the deal.
Report to Nettiauto customer service – Report a suspicious listing or user to Nettiauto customer service using the service’s own tools or via nettiauto.com. Attach a screenshot, so that the listing can be removed from others’ view too.
Complain to the seller in writing – Report the problem to the seller as soon as possible in writing (e.g. by email or letter).
Ask for an expert’s statement – Obtain a written statement from an impartial expert (e.g. an authorised workshop or an inspection station) about the faults or shortcomings.
Contact consumer advice – If you bought the car from a car dealership, contact consumer advice for help.
File a report with the police – If it is a clear fraud, file a police report. You can do it online at poliisi.fi.
Investigate hidden faults – If hidden faults appear in the car, find out whether the seller was aware of them, as it affects your rights.

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The Consumer Protection Act protects you if you buy a car from a car dealership. For cars bought from a private person the protection is weaker, whereby the terms of the sales agreement are emphasised. Remember that faults can occur in a used car, but significant faults deliberately concealed by the seller are a different matter from normal wear.

Summary

Car trading always involves risks, but with the right caution and thorough background work you can avoid most scams. The most important things to remember:

Always check the car’s background information and history from official sources before the purchase decision.
Never pay advance payments or agree to suspicious payment arrangements.
Make sure the car is technically in good order and matches the seller’s description with a test drive and an inspection.
If an offer feels too good to be true, it is probably a scam.
Always make a written sales agreement in which all the terms of the deal are specified.
Trust your instinct – if the seller or the car raises suspicions, rather look for another option.

OstoSafe.fi constantly updates information about new scam methods. Visit our website regularly and use our scam checker to get advice for safe car trading.

Recognising Nettiauto scams