Rise in ‘ghost MoT’ fraud forces testers to photograph cars in new trial

Testers may soon have to take pictures of your car at MoT time, with a trial getting underway to help limit the number of fraudulent pass certificates.

According to the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA), around 80 per cent of MoT fraud centres on the issuing of so-called ‘ghost MoTs’. This is when an MoT tester issues a pass certificate for a vehicle that has not even shown up at a garage for testing. 

As well as being illegal, the practice could put road users at risk if potentially dangerous vehicle faults are not picked up, and cars that would otherwise be barred from driving are kept on the road with a fake MoT certificate.

The trial launched in February to help counter ghost MoTs so far involves only a small number of MoT test stations. It requires testers to take a picture showing the entire vehicle in the test bay, and upload images to the official MoT website. Images should include all of the front or rear of a vehicle, and the number plate must be clearly visible. Images have to be taken at the time of the test, and the upload technology will prevent pre-stored pictures being used.

“We know ghost MoTs account for nearly 80 per cent of all fraudulent MoTs, making it a clear area for us to tackle,” said the DVSA in an official statement. 

“Knowing if a vehicle is where it should be at the time of test should reduce the number of MoTs carried out when the vehicle isn’t present. 

“Potentially, both authorised examiners and DVSA will be able to see the images stored against the test record, and this will help all of us to crack down on fraud. 

“It will enable us to focus our efforts on helping garages do the right thing, but also free up time to focus on those who are not and deal with them accordingly.”

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