29 Aug 2023

Scamwatch: fraudsters lurking behind dodgy driving licence posts on Facebook

Our expert investigates scam posts in a car sales group

Dear Which?,

I’m a member of a Facebook group for second-hand car sales.

I keep seeing posts offering people the chance to buy a driving licence without passing their driving test.

I have reported these posts to Facebook on many occasions but I kept receiving replies stating that the content doesn’t go against its community standards.

When I ask for the decision to be reviewed, Facebook stands by its original statement.

Name supplied

Faye Lipson, Which? senior researcher, says:

When you emailed us, you shared images of some of the posts you’d spotted. They contained images of practical driving test pass certificates, with wording such as ‘Obtain theory test and practical pass certificate without exams,’ adding: ‘everything is fully registered and confirm [sic] in DVLA’. Interested parties are asked to message the ‘seller’ on WhatsApp.

When we investigated further, we found multiple Facebook pages and groups with names including ‘Buy legit UK drivers licence’ and ‘Full registered UK driver’s licence’, also offering ‘official’ documents without the inconvenience of having to pass an exam.

We sent Meta (the parent company of both Facebook and WhatsApp) a list of links to the offending content we’d found, and it replied telling us it had removed the content.

A spokesperson said: ‘We do not allow fraudulent activity on our platforms, including the selling of forged documents. When we identify this kind of activity we take action - removing content and, as with this case, disabling accounts as necessary.’

We asked Meta why these groups and pages are able to proliferate on Facebook and why it doesn’t use technology to proactively prevent such law-breaking groups from appearing, but it failed to respond to these questions.

Phishing scams

The thought of unqualified drivers taking to the roads, emboldened by fake or fraudulent driving licences, is of course horrifying.

But when we spoke to the DVLA it had somewhat reassuring news. It said such posts are generally phishing scams aimed at getting victims’ payment and personal details.

A spokesperson told us: ‘These accounts are not connected to DVLA - they are recognised scams that attempt to obtain payment or personal information. Anyone concerned they may have been a victim of a scam should contact the police through Action Fraud straight away.’