I’m a car expert… drivers face getting scammed by making error before selling their motor | The Sun

DRIVERS have been warned over the threat of scams if they make a key error when selling their motors.

Andrew Jervis, CEO of ClickMechanic, urged car owners to be alert to the risk of fraud and avoid a major tech blunder.

Andrew explained that modern cars could give criminals access to all sorts of personal data if it isn't properly deleted before you sell up.

This applies to vehicles that use Bluetooth to connect to your mobile phone.

It's an extremely handy feature, which lets you take calls hands-free, listen to music and even send texts using voice-recognition software.

However, according to Andrew, it can also make second-hand cars a lucrative target for scammers.

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He told The Express: "Many of us sync our phones to in-vehicle entertainment systems to enjoy music while we drive or to help us find our way.

"But the mistake too many people are making is forgetting to erase the device from the Bluetooth system when selling their cars or handing the keys back on a rental vehicle.

"Failing to remember to erase your phone is essentially sharing your personal details with strangers who may use it for fraudulent purposes."

This is because the car's system stores all sorts of information from your device, including location data, contacts and even your navigation history.

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By selling your car, you could unintentionally be handing over your home address or personal phone number to crooks.

Andrew urged: "While some rental car companies have a policy of wiping the system after each driver, many don’t and it’s up to the individual motorists to do it themselves."

Thankfully, ClickMechanic's technicians are on hand to walk you through the process.

You can delete your phone from the list of paired gadgets in its System Settings menu.

And you can also remove all paired phones from the car using the factory reset function on the infotainment system.

This is particularly important given that a study by Which? found that 51% of drivers do not un-pair their phones before selling their car, while 79% did not delete potentially sensitive data.

It comes after it was revealed that a viral hack to fix dents in your car's bodywork could actually cost you thousands, as well as putting your safety at risk.

Meanwhile, new plans could see users of self-driving cars escape prosecution for serious offences.

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