Watch out for scams offering help claiming compensation for mis-sold car finance charges

Scammers are taking advantage of the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) investigation into unfair car finance charges by falsely advertising services to help those with compensation claims.

Consumer group Which? found four fake adverts on Facebook and Instagram claiming to help people find out if they’re owed compensation after being mis-sold car finance.

How to spot fake ads

These adverts might not seem suspicious at first glance – they tell you that you could be due a refund if you bought a car on finance between 2010 and 2021.

They ask you to leave your details to see if you’re eligible. According to Which?, the real aim of these dodgy adverts is to steal your personal information for more elaborate scams in the future.

Which? also ran a reverse image search of one account’s profile picture and found it’d been used online in hundreds of other places under different names.

Reporting fake adverts on social media

You can report scam adverts and posts on social media by clicking on the three dots in the top-right corner. Select ‘report’ and follow the prompts.

If you’ve been taken in by a scam, call your bank and report it to Action Fraud. If you live in Scotland, you’ll need to report it to the police by calling 101.

How to complain about mis-sold car finance

You don’t need to use a third party to see if you’re eligible to claim mis-sold car finance and make a complaint. Talk to your finance provider or credit broker first to see if they can help – you can follow a template letter like this one.

There’s currently a pause on replying to complaints by the FCA until 4 December 2025, so you might not get a reply before then.

 If you’re not happy with the final response you get, you can complain to the financial ombudsman.