Fraudulent auto loan reports to Federal Trade Commission on record pace in 2025
Americans are on pace to break an unfortunate record in 2025: the most complaints ever filed to the Federal Trade Commission in a single year about what they believe are fraudulent auto loans.
The 21,000-plus reports so far this year are a continuation of a troubling increase.
Data analyzed by CBS News New York shows the FTC fielded more than 60,000 complaints of allegedly fraudulent auto loans last year. The complaints steadily climbed each quarter of 2024, resulting in a 16% year-end increase over 2023. And it's still climbing: the 21,400 complaints from the first quarter of this year put 2025 on pace for the highest yearly total on record.
One Brooklyn man shared his story with CBS News New York Investigates.
Steve Simon's problem with a Queens dealership
Brooklyn resident Steven Simon said he hopes his hard work as a delivery truck driver can lead to a ride for himself.
He's looking to buy a used vehicle, which is why he visited Northstar Mitsubishi in Queens last fall. He said he gave the dealership permission to run his credit to see if he could lease an Outlander Sport.
"I didn't like the interest rate on it, so I denied it, left, went home," Simon said.
However, Simon said he kept getting notifications over the next four days about hard inquiries on his credit. Then, nearly three weeks after his trip to Northstar, which sells preowned cars from all makers, he got a letter from Ally Bank, saying he was listed and denied as the co-applicant for the lease of a Ford Expedition Max at Northstar with an applicant named Michelle.
"I don't know no Michelle, no person like that, and if I'm not able to get a vehicle, I damn sure not gonna co-sign for someone else to get a vehicle," Simon said.
He filed a report with the Queens district attorney because he says the dealership hasn't explained what happened.
"I was kind of mad and trying to figure out, who can I call and who can I talk to try to investigate these people? Because, you know, I didn't give permission for that and that was like ruining my credit score," Simon said. "It was crazy for me."
Some of the dealership's employees couldn't explain it to CBS News New York Investigates, either.
"I'm not gonna talk publicly about somebody's credit. if there's a mistake or something we're willing to fix it," one employee said.
Reporter Tim McNicholas attempted to hand that employee a business card so his boss could get back to CBS News New York Investigates, but the employee just walked away.
McNicholas never heard from Northstar Mitsubishi's owner.
Contact the FTC and consider involving police, consumer advocate says
Lucas Gutterman is a consumer advocate with the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, or PIRG.
"That's pretty surprising to me," Gutterman said of Simon's situation. "If it had been accepted and someone who is a criminal had gotten access to that line of credit, that could cause some serious damage by affecting the credit score or just affecting the debts that this person owed.
"It's important that this person that experienced that, they should file a complaint with the FTC and consider calling the cops as well," Gutterman added.
As for credit inquiries, it's not uncommon for dealerships to run your credit with multiple lenders if you're doing the financing through the dealership. Most credit bureaus have rules that will bundle hard inquiries within 14 days into one inquiry, so it won't hurt your credit score as much. Still, a hard inquiry will likely affect your credit score for about a year.
