Saturday 13 July 2024

The Voice - Consumer's Voice

What should I do?

Good morning. I need help. I bought a car at a pawn shop, after the disk expired I found out that it has been flagged with the Police and also the disk on the car was fake. The Transport system shows that the car long expired in 2022 whereas the disk on the car was for 2023. I have tried to get them to rectify this but they are just sending me from pillar to post. Please assist.


The first thing we should all learn from this situation is that whenever we buy a second-hand car, it's important to get the seller to prove that the car hasn't been flagged by the Police. This is a process where the Police record a car as connected to a debt that an owner incurred when they failed to pay a Police fine. The problem occurs when the car is sold and the new owner then has problems registering the vehicle in their name. The Police should be flexible about this because it's obviously wrong to charge you for someone else's debts but it's clearly an inconvenience.

However, what worries me more here is that the car was sold with a forged registration disk. That's a criminal matter and the pawn shop management needs to take some responsibility for this. I know they didn't forge the disk but they neglected to check that the car was legally registered. That's something that any company selling a car should do.

I contacted the pawn shop and he responded quickly, saying: "Hello sir ...I understand the case....that car I also bought from another guy who has been promising to pay and cover all the necessary needs .I even gave him the guys numbers and they were talking and still promising to pay …"

I'm not impressed. You didn't buy the car from "another guy", you bought it from the pawn shop and it's their responsibility to fix this matter. I'll keep chasing them.

Finally, I think you need to speak to the Police and explain everything that happened here, most importantly about the fake registration disk. They need to understand that you are the innocent party here.

Update: The pawn shop manager persuaded "another guy" to compensate the consumer and this has started.

Can they do this?

Hey Mr Richard. One of requirements for this cash loan is a picture of your bank card including CVV. Is it allowed?


No, it most certainly is not.

Every part of your bank card is important and needs to be treated with great care. Obviously the 16-digit card number is important and you should be VERY careful how you use it and who you share it with. The Expiry Date is also critical but the most important thing is the 3-digit CVV number on the back of the card. This Card Verification Value number is used to prove that the card is in the possession of the card holder when they purchase things over the phone or online. Giving this to anyone is incredibly risky and giving it to a microlender who asks for it is dangerous. Incredibly dangerous. You are giving control of your money to someone who can't be trusted.

It's also illegal. NBFIRA, who regulate the microlending industry, have repeatedly said that lenders may not take any borrower's identity documents or their bank cards. I don't think it matters whether a lender takes a bank card physically or just a photo of it. If they have the CVV number, they've crossed the line.

I'll contact NBFIRA about this and I'll also contact the loan company. It might be just one employee that's breaking the rules or it might be company policy. Either way they ned to stop it immediately.

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