Thousands of people and cars were empty! Starting from the "0-kilometer used car" serial scam that sells two cars in one car

One car, two bucks, a thousand family nightmares.

Original: Second-hand car fat said

She was very happy and bought a used car called "0 kilometers" at a low price, and finally found that what she got was a mortgaged car that could not get property rights and was carrying a bank loan.

At the end of September this year, a car sales scam spread across many places, involving thousands of car owners.

Qinhuangdao Zhongdian Automobile Trading Co., Ltd. and Qinhuangdao Mingtian Automobile Sales Co., Ltd., two related automobile trading companies, relied on Short Video platforms to guide and "sell two cars for one car" under the banner of low-cost "0-kilometer used cars". At the end of September, they suddenly lost contact and ran away.

01 An ordinary family's nightmare of "picking up leaks"

Five months ago, 26-year-old Wang Haoxin drove more than 550 kilometers from Anyang, Henan Province to Qinhuangdao, spending 135,000 yuan to pick up a BYD Han. This price is nearly 20,000 yuan cheaper than the price quoted by local 4S stores.

The salesperson promised him that as long as the original owner's "trade-in" subsidy was implemented, the transfer would be handled. The latest transfer time specified in the contract was June 2, 2027. Wang Haoxin felt he could wait.

He told Fenghuang website's Eye of the Storm,"After all, it's an ordinary family, and the conditions are not generous to begin with. It's good to save some money."

At that time, he didn't know that there was a series of tricks behind this.

Until September 19, he called the salesperson to try to inquire about the transfer progress, but the other party did not answer. Early the next morning, a voice reply from the sales continued to delay. Four days later, Wang Haoxin discovered that the WeChat seller had quietly changed its name, and the Douyin account used for publicity was also directly cancelled.

On the evening of September 20, Zhongdian Automobile Trade and Mingtian Automobile issued a "Notice Letter" to customers, stating in writing that the operating losses had expanded, the capital chain had been broken, and the cash flow had dried up, and decided to suspend monthly payments starting from September 21, 2026. Supply does not rule out applying for bankruptcy liquidation or reorganization.

Only then did Wang Haoxin realize that he might have "run out of money and cars."

02 The serial routine of "one car, two sales"

The core method of this scam is to "sell" the same car twice.

Step 1: Find someone to carry a car loan.  Under the guise of the car trade-in subsidy policy, Zhongdian Auto Trade published high-priced recycling of scrapped cars on the Short Video platform to lure old car owners to replace new cars.

On the grounds of "car demand", the company persuaded car owners with good credit reporting to apply for loans to purchase cars, promising that a subsidy of 20,000 yuan would be given to the car owner, the vehicle would be used by the company, and the company would be responsible for repaying the loan. One year later, the car loan would be settled and transferred.

Step 2: Sell the car in full.  After obtaining control of the vehicle, another group of sales personnel sold the full amount at a low price in the name of "licensed and tax-free zero-kilometer used cars", but the vehicles will not be transferred for the time being.

The salesperson promised the car buyer that the vehicles were "brand-new vehicles that have been shipped out of the warehouse no more than half a month" and clearly denied that they were mortgaged cars.

Step 3: Delay the transfer on the grounds of "subsidy".  Sales personnel repeatedly used the excuse that "the original car owner is receiving a trade-in subsidy and the transfer must take 6 months before the transfer can be made" to let the car buyer wait with peace of mind.

Step 4: The capital market is broken and the liquidation is harvested.  One car simultaneously withdraws both bank loans and the full customer payment. The company uses the newly inflow customer funds to advance the previous monthly payment and sales commissions. Once the new customer base decreases, the capital chain will be unsustainable.

Sky Eye inspection shows that the actual controller of both companies is Li Zhe, with a registered capital of only 100,000 yuan. Many car buyers estimated that the number of vehicles involved and victims was between one to two thousand.

03 The dual dilemma of back-lenders and car buyers

In this scam, the victims are far more than just car buyers.

Zhang Cheng, the registered owner of Wang Haoxin's car, revealed that the company had promised to pay the monthly supply on its behalf and pay it off within one year, and also paid a one-time national subsidy of 18,000 yuan for replacing the old one.

Now that the company is running away, he still has about 130,000 yuan in arrears. Another debtor contacted by the car buyer was a 63-year-old sick farmer who had a loan of 165,000 yuan with interest.

The situation of full-car car buyers is equally worrying. Mr. Lu from Tieling, Liaoning Province spent 66,000 yuan in December last year to buy a used car. It was not until September this year that he checked the vehicle files that he found that there was a mortgage loan on the car, and the remaining loan of more than 60,000 yuan had not been repaid.

Mr. Chen, who is far away in Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, only paid the full amount of 142,000 yuan in August this year. A few days ago, the vehicle was suddenly towed from Harbin to Qinhuangdao by its original owner.

Car owners face the dilemma of continuing to repay their loans or cutting off their loans and breaking their trust, while car owners face the risk of their vehicles being towed away by the lending bank.

04 Legal characterization: Suspected of double fraud

Gao Tongwu, a lawyer from Beijing City Yingke Law Firm, analyzed that the automobile trading company involved has been suspected of loan fraud and contract fraud. It belongs to a serial fraud that defrauds bank loans and defrauds car buyers of the full payment.

Xie Shu, a professor at the School of Criminal Justice at China University of Political Science and Law, also said that if he recruited nominal car owners in the name of "trade-in for-new," fabricated transaction materials to obtain bank loans, and sold the same batch of mortgaged vehicles to car buyers and collected the full amount, if it is found that they subjectively have illegal possession purposes, they will be suspected of contract fraud and loan fraud.

For full-amount car buyers, although they have obtained ownership of the vehicle, they cannot resist the mortgage rights registered by the bank. Financial institutions have the right to tow and auction the vehicle in accordance with the law after the loan is overdue. The car buyer can declare the identity of the victim to the public security officer handling the case and request the recovery of the stolen money and property involved in the case.

05 Industry trust crisis: Not just this one

This incident is not an isolated case. It exposes structural diseases such as distorted vehicle conditions, unclear property rights, and lack of guarantee of capital security in used car transactions.

The data confirms this judgment. In the first five months of 2026, the cumulative domestic transaction volume of used cars was 8.095 million, and the retail sales of new cars during the same period was 8.148 million. The scale of the two was basically the same.

However, under the appearance of prosperity, trust shortcomings such as opaque vehicle conditions and inconsistent testing standards are still prominent.

Industry research shows that 42.18% of consumers are most concerned about the professionalism of testing and evaluation, followed closely by after-sales service perfection and price transparency. However, the reality is that chaos such as deliberately concealing the hidden dangers of accident vehicles and deliberately repairing water trucks into the market after entering the market has been repeatedly prohibited. Some testing agencies that have been cancelled have even issued false reports to "endorse" the problem car.

06 How can consumers avoid traps?

Faced with the endless stream of used car scams, consumers need to be vigilant from the following aspects:

First, verify the "identity" of the vehicle.  Before buying a car, you must check the "Motor Vehicle Registration Certificate"(commonly known as the "Big Green Book"), focusing on the "Mortgage Registration" column on the registration certificate. If the vehicle is still mortgaged, the seller must be required to release the mortgage before it can be traded. Don't trust the salesperson's verbal promise. The sentence "it's not a mortgage car" has no legal effect in itself.

Second, adhere to the principle of "transfer first, payment later".  Any transaction that delays the transfer of funds on the grounds that "subsidies have not yet arrived" and "need to wait for several months" should be highly vigilant. For normal used car transactions, transfer and payment should be completed simultaneously. Once the other party refuses to transfer the transfer immediately, the consumer should immediately suspend the transaction.

Third, be wary of "leaks" that are significantly lower than the market price.  Prices far below the market prices often mean higher risks. Courts in many places have clearly ruled that those who buy a vehicle knowing that there are flaws in their rights will bear the risks.

Fourth, choose formal channels and retain complete evidence. nbsp; Try to choose qualified brand-certified used cars or large formal platforms, sign a written contract, and keep all transaction evidence such as chat records, transfer vouchers, and contracts. Once you discover that you have been deceived, report the case to the public security organ in a timely manner and report it through the 12315 complaint.

This Qinhuangdao "one car for two sales" scam involved thousands of victims and the amount involved was huge. It reminds us once again that in the face of interests, the routine is always deeper than imagined. Don't let the mentality of "picking up leaks" become a bargaining chip in the hands of scammers.

Source: Used car Xiaopang said

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