Mileage fraud: “€12,000 recovered in one year thanks to CarFleet”

I serve as the Services Division Manager for three Leclerc locations in the Dordogne (Trélissac, Notre Dame de Sanilhac, and Périgueux). Among other responsibilities, I oversee vehicle rental operations and gas stations. Our three locations operate a fleet of 297 vehicles, including 62 commercial vehicles. They handle a total of approximately 2,000 passenger car rentals each year, and another 2,000 commercial vehicle rentals. Among our customers are a number of long-term renters who visit the location every month to renew their contracts.

When I started this job two years ago, I had already heard about techniques for tampering with the odometer, and I quickly began to have my suspicions about certain drivers. Those suspicions were confirmed when a long-term renter reported driving only 50 kilometers per month, which struck me as suspicious.

When he came in to renew his contract, I asked to see the odometer: it appeared to be malfunctioning, with the customer claiming it was a “glitch.” Wanting to get to the bottom of it, I took the vehicle to the dealership, where they found that the customer had simply ripped out several wires in the engine compartment to disable the odometer.

Yes, we compared various solutions, but almost all providers on the market offer on-board devices. These need to be installed and then removed when the vehicle is returned, in addition to requiring regular maintenance. CarFleet was the only solution without a device; it also offered the advantage of real-time geolocation, making it easy to verify the status of any suspicious vehicle.

If I have even the slightest doubt, CarFleet makes it very easy for me to compare, right within the interface, the mileage shown on the odometer and the actual distance traveled based on GPS coordinates. When an anomaly is detected, I wait for the customer to return the vehicle before presenting them with the facts.

We then offer to apply the penalties set forth in our terms and conditions of sale, namely a flat rate of 500 km per day of rental. The alternative is to refer the case to the police: in all cases recorded so far, the offenders have not denied the charges and have agreed to pay rather than face legal action.

On average, I detect fraud every two months. The most recent case was just a few weeks ago in mid-February: I estimated the fraud at 21,000 km, and the customer agreed to pay €4,800 in penalties without batting an eye! The previous case involved 25,000 km. I’ve thus recovered over €12,000 in a year. The CarFleet tool has easily paid for itself! But my fleet of light vehicles isn’t yet fully connected, so I wouldn’t rule out the possibility that the scale of the fraud is actually much greater.

It’s not always easy to tell. There are various techniques, ranging from tampering with components in the engine compartment to using hacking devices that can be purchased… One thing is certain: most of the affected customers have admitted to having a third party perform the tampering.

CarFleet can be useful for locating a vehicle in the event of theft. Fortunately, we haven’t had any thefts reported in our fleet over the past year. Before implementing the Echoes solution, I had to deal with three stolen vehicles, two of which were recovered.

In addition, tracking maintenance schedules and technical alerts can be helpful for customers who rent for long periods, saving us from having to check the dashboard ourselves every time a contract is renewed monthly. Finally, I’m eagerly awaiting the widespread adoption of remote immobilization, which will allow me to take action with a single click in the event of theft or serious fraud!