Cloned Car Syndicate Openly Using Social Media To Sell Cars

It seems that cloned car syndicates are getting braver by the minute as they romp through social media with adverts selling cloned cars. 

According to Negeri Sembilan Road Transport Department (RTD) Director, Hanif Yusabra Yusuf, compared with before, syndicates are now openly using Facebook and Telegram to market cloned vehicles to buyers, where previously they would be discreet about it. 

"In the past, the syndicate operated quietly and secretly, however, people can now easily access information about cloned vehicles sold at low prices through social media," said Yusuf

He added that from 2016 until now, RTD had seized 64 cloned vehicles in the state, based on operations conducted. 

"The prices offered for cloned vehicles are illogical, starting from RM5,000 to RM20,000 for brands like Honda, BMW and Mini. Usually, buyers are aware that these are cloned vehicles, and the low prices attract them compared to those in the market".

"The buyers of the vehicle themselves conspire with the seller of the cloned car syndicate by making a copy of the road tax and grant and then placing the road tax that has been 'duplicated' on the cloned car," he said.

Picture credit: The Sun

The problem with cloned cars is mainly from a safety aspect where insurance will not cover said vehicle nor its occupants or others in the event of an accident.

Cloned vehicle users can be charged in a number of ways, mainly according to the Road Transport Act (APJ) 1987, which is to own an unregistered motor vehicle, display a registration number that does not belong to him, display road tax that does not belong to him and has no insurance coverage, he said.

For those who are not in the know, cloned cars are usually two cars with the same registration number. Only one car is legitimate with a valid chassis number and road tax as the records kept by the Road Transport Department (JPJ).

The identity of legitimate cars is stolen by criminals and used for other cars to confuse the eyes of the authorities. Often, these cloned cars are brought in through ports or borders of Thailand and Singapore by syndicates.

According to a report compiled by Sinar Harian, the Road Transport Department revealed that 95 percent of cloned vehicles detected through their operations were smuggled in from Singapore, and it was from scrap vehicles that had expired under the country's laws.

The Honda Jazz is usually the car that is highest in demand, especially among young people between the ages of 25 to 45 who buy them for RM10,000 compared to the original price of around RM85,000.