Eager learner drivers falling foul of online scammers

With driving test centres currently closed and driving lessons largely on hold due to the COVID-19 lockdown, learner drivers up and down the country have been left to wait until they can get back on the road. But while lessons are unable to currently go ahead, the desire to learn to drive is still very much around, and online scammers are using this pent-up demand to take advantage of eager learner drivers.

It has come to RED Driving School’s attention that scam artists on social media are impersonating driving instructors and, in some cases, established driving schools to take payments for fraudulent lessons. We would like to remind all learner drivers that, at the time of writing, driving test centres are still closed and driving lessons are still on hold for all learners, aside from essential workers.

RED Driving School would like all learner drivers to remain aware of these scams and not become a victim of online fraudsters. We urge you all to act with extra caution and only pre-pay for driving lessons via an established school, using only their official, authorised payment channels.

RED Driving School CEO, Ian McIntosh, says,

“Fraudsters are having a field day…they’re exploiting those who are anxious to start driving lessons ASAP. The examples we’ve seen this week on social media show that they are offering lesson prices that are often too good to be true. Some have gone further by asking for a deposit to be paid immediately with the balance to be paid in instalments. Once the money is received, the scammer disappears with the customers’ cash, they then close down their social media presence. It is really distressing in these difficult times to see that some hard-pressed learners are being taken for ride rather than learning to drive.”

We look forward to a time in the near future when we can get back on the road safely, and we understand the demand to get back on the roads is high, so when we restart we will be prioritising RED customers who have pre-paid for lessons in advance.

You can become a pre-paid RED customer by purchasing a PRIORITY PASS VOUCHER which means that you will be at the front of the queue to book driving lessons as soon as it is safe to do so.

Find out more here https://www.reddrivingschool.com/offers/priority-pass/.