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With the arrival of the summer months, the car rental industry also got its share of fraudsters. It is known that 24 people who defrauded 2 thousand people and made a profit of 5 million TL in total were detained in April, while it was seen that eight suspects gained 900 thousand TL in the last month. Experts have warned against scammers, especially those who copy car rental sites.

*** This release is originally published in Turkish.

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ISTANBUL (TR) - The last target of the scammers was the car rental industry. Taking advantage of the increasing demand for car rental with the arrival of spring and summer, malicious people defrauded hundreds of people with the websites they created by copying the websites of known brands. In the simultaneous raids held in Balıkesir and Istanbul in April, a gang that defrauded 2 thousand people who wanted to rent a car with 5 million TL was busted, while it was revealed that eight suspects made an unfair profit of 900 thousand TL in the same way last month.

AVEC Rent a Car, which provides car rental services, warned users against fake sites and fraudsters.

Evaluating the developments, Uğur Yılmaz, Marketing and Business Development Director of AVEC Rent a Car CRM, said, “The fraudsters mostly resort to copying the websites of well-known car rental brands. A moment's carelessness of those who want to rent a car can cause significant financial losses.”

“Corporate companies do not request EFT, money order or cash payments”

Stating that credit cards are used in car rental transactions, AVEC Rent a Car CRM Marketing and  Business Development Director Uğur Yılmaz said, “Corporate companies do not make EFT, money order or cash payments from users. All payment transactions are made by credit card in an environment with an SSL certificate. Support and communication channels of corporate car rental companies start with “444” numbers. Corporate companies do not ask for money over the WhatsApp line; they do not want to be paid by correspondence on behalf of others using money transfer / EFT.” Noting that the scammers are trying to deceive people with prices far below the market price, Uğur Yılmaz said, "Investigating the prices of different companies before renting a car can help to detect the scammers."

“Verified sites should be preferred”

Reminding that those who want to rent a car mostly use search engines and that the fraudsters who realize this situation resort to unique methods to appear at the top of the search engines, Uğur Yılmaz said, "Those who plan to rent a car over the internet should check the accuracy of the web address they use."

“You can apply to the inquiry section in the E-Commerce Information Platform within the Ministry of Commerce. Users who see a green tick in the verified site column in the search results made with keywords by entering https://www.eticaret.gov.tr/ can shop with peace of mind. The phrase "verified site" indicates that the web address in question is registered in the Electronic Commerce Information System (ETBIS), which was created to protect consumers who shop online and to record the information of e-commerce companies. In addition, by searching this way, the registered and actual website address of the brand to be preferred can be seen.”

“We serve with our 20 branches”

Pointing out that AVEC Rent a Car provides service with 20 branches throughout Turkey, Uğur Yılmaz concluded his evaluations with the following statements: “In recent months, we have been ranked first in the world with our four branches in the Customers' Favorite awards of the world-famous travel platform booking.com. We offer the most comfortable and fast service to our individual and corporate customers with the highest customer satisfaction. We work with the experience of the Paşalı Group, which has been contributing to our country's economy for 40 years, with our fleet of cars from every segment. While following world standards in hygiene and cleaning, we make it easy to rent a car with our website registered with ETBIS, which can be accessed at avecrentacar.com."