When a car bought from a private seller turns out to have a serious fault it already had, the claim goes through the Spanish Civil Code, which gives you six months from delivery for hidden defects, unless the seller deceived you before the sale, because then it is fraud under article 248 of the Criminal Code and the right step is a police report. Which of the two it is decides the court, the time limit and how the money comes back. Choosing the wrong route has a real cost, because a report about what is only a contract problem gets closed, and meanwhile the six months for the civil claim keep running.
This is the first thing I look at when someone brings me a private sale that went wrong, whether a car, a phone or an item from Vinted. At Perseus & RC Abogados these cases are handled by me, Luis Jurado Cano, a criminal lawyer registered with the A Coruña Bar Association under number 6317, for buyers and also for sellers who were never paid. What all fraud cases share is on the general fraud page.
Used cars, fraud or hidden defect
It is criminal deception when the seller prepared something so that you paid more or bought what you would not have bought. That covers a wound-back odometer, an invented service history, a rebuilt write-off presented as a one-owner car, or a car with an attachment order or a finance company’s retention of title that the seller keeps quiet about. Selling something while hiding a charge on it even has its own penalty in the Criminal Code, one to four years in prison.
If the fault existed but the seller did not know, or it was visible and you could have seen it, the matter is civil. You can ask for the sale to be undone or the price reduced, and if the seller knew and said nothing, for compensation too. Evidence is gathered at the start. Request the DGT vehicle report, which shows attachment orders and the mileage recorded at ITV inspections, check the Movable Property Register if the car was financed, and do not repair it before an expert has examined it.
Wallapop, Vinted and Milanuncios, paid and nothing arrived
What decides it is how you paid. Inside the app, the money is held until you confirm receipt, and the platform refunds it if you open a claim within the short deadline in its terms. Fraudsters know this, which is why they push to take payment outside the app. If you paid by Bizum, bank transfer or a link sent by the seller, the platform never held the money, and the route is a police report so the court can identify who received it. I explain what each platform covers in scammed on Wallapop and the Vinted scam.
When the seller is the one scammed
Sellers face other tricks, such as a screenshot of a transfer that never happened, an email imitating the platform with a link to “collect” the payment, or a Bizum request dressed up as a payment that you accept thinking you are receiving money. The practical rule is to send nothing until the money shows in your own banking app. If a link took your card details and charges you did not make followed, that becomes a claim against your bank, covered on the bank fraud page.
How the money comes back
If it was fraud, the report opens the way to identifying the other party, freezing the account that received the money and, on conviction, getting repaid in the same judgment. If the seller is identified and it was a contract problem, a civil claim is usually faster, and I handle those with Ana Reza, managing partner of our civil department. The six-month civil deadline runs from delivery, not from when you discovered the problem, and a criminal report does not always stop it. If the purchase was a flat or a holiday booking, see rental and property scams.
Where we are
Rúa Torreiro 13, 3.º C, 15001 A Coruña, Spain. Phone +34 677 841 007. If you live elsewhere, we can speak by phone or video call, in English.
Related reading
- Scammed on Wallapop in Spain, what you can claim and from whom
- Vinted scam in Spain, what buyer protection covers and what to do with a counterfeit
- Scammed paying with PayPal in Spain, when it protects you and when it will not
- Scammed while shopping online from a Spanish seller, what you can get back
- Reported for a minor offence in Spain, what’s at stake and what to decide
Frequently asked questions
I bought a car from a private seller in Spain and the engine failed two weeks later. Can I claim?
Yes, if the fault already existed at the sale and could not be seen. You have six months from delivery to ask for the sale to be undone or the price reduced, and if the seller knew about the fault, compensation as well. Have an independent expert inspect the car before repairing it, because the repair destroys the evidence.
The car had far more kilometres than the advert said. Is that fraud?
If the odometer was tampered with to sell it for more, yes, because the deception was prepared before the sale. The readings recorded at ITV inspections, which also appear on the DGT vehicle report, usually give it away. With that you can report it and claim the money back or the difference in value in the same criminal case.
I sold something on Wallapop and the buyer sent me a fake transfer receipt. What can I do?
Report it as fraud with the chat, the receipt they sent, the tracking number and the delivery address, which helps identify whoever collected the parcel. If you shipped through the platform, open a claim there too. From now on, send nothing until you see the money in your account in your own banking app.
I lost less than 400 euros in a private sale. Is it worth reporting?
Yes. Below that figure, unless an aggravating circumstance applies, it is a minor offence punished with a fine, it must be reported within a year and you can do it yourself at a police station. If the same seller cheated other buyers, the amounts can be added together, and your report is what links them.
Does Wallapop or Vinted have to refund me?
Only if you paid inside the app and opened a claim within the deadline in their terms, which is counted in days from delivery. If you paid by Bizum, transfer or a link the seller sent you, the platform never held that money. Report the account to it anyway so it is blocked and its data are kept for the court.