Scammers fake debts, stage lawsuits to get cars

BEIJING - Online articles have been suggesting collaborations between used car sellers and buyers that involve lawsuits over fake debts to circumvent the capital's license plate issuance limits.

The scheme goes like this: a secondhand car's buyer and its seller devise an imaginary debt the vehicle's seller "owes" the buyer for which the car is "collateral". They go to court, which orders the "debtor" (the car's seller) to hand over the car to the "lender" (the car's buyer). Along with the transfer of the car's ownership comes its already registered license plate.

Risks include stains to one's credit record, being banned from applying for a license plate for three years, and fines and detentions.