【ATTENTION】Important Notice on Purchase of Second-hand Vehicles from Japan
2021/8/13
The Embassy of Japan in Zambia has received reports of problems related to importing used vehicles to Zambia from Japan through internet transactions. These are cases in which importers have transferred money to entities that claim to be authentic second-hand vehicle dealers in Japan and the latter failed to ship the vehicles after receiving the payment.
While the Embassy regrets to advise that the Government of Japan will not deal with any individual commercial transactions, we do however have the following possible courses of action which you can take:
* Should you wish to confirm reliability of car dealers, kindly refer to the Zambian Embassy in Tokyo http://www.zambia.or.jp/index.html
* For a protracted case, kindly refer to the Japan Commercial Arbitration Association (JCAA), which can be found on http://www.jcaa.or.jp/en/
* If you believe that you have become involved in a fraudulent deal, you may wish to take the following step: Contact the Criminal Investigations Department Anti-Fraud Unit at the Zambia Police Service Headquarters on Tel: 250725. The Japan Police conducts investigations in good faith to crack down on such fraud cases based on requests and reports received from the Zambian Police through the International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO). The investigations, however, do not always guarantee the desired outcome.
The Embassy also wishes to advise prospective buyers to exercise caution when entering into online purchase transactions by exercising due diligence to verify the current operating status of the exporters to avoid trouble.
Some Japanese second-hand vehicles dealers are aware of the problem and are taking voluntary preventive actions. A private industrial association, the Japan Used Motor Vehicles Exporters Association (JUMVEA http://www.jumvea.or.jp), is making efforts to ease the process of identifying bona fide vehicle exporters for the sound development of used vehicle exports. Prospective individual buyers of used vehicles from Japan may find the JUMVEA members' list useful, though the Embassy of Japan is not in a position to endorse each member.
While the Embassy regrets to advise that the Government of Japan will not deal with any individual commercial transactions, we do however have the following possible courses of action which you can take:
* Should you wish to confirm reliability of car dealers, kindly refer to the Zambian Embassy in Tokyo http://www.zambia.or.jp/index.html
* For a protracted case, kindly refer to the Japan Commercial Arbitration Association (JCAA), which can be found on http://www.jcaa.or.jp/en/
* If you believe that you have become involved in a fraudulent deal, you may wish to take the following step: Contact the Criminal Investigations Department Anti-Fraud Unit at the Zambia Police Service Headquarters on Tel: 250725. The Japan Police conducts investigations in good faith to crack down on such fraud cases based on requests and reports received from the Zambian Police through the International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO). The investigations, however, do not always guarantee the desired outcome.
The Embassy also wishes to advise prospective buyers to exercise caution when entering into online purchase transactions by exercising due diligence to verify the current operating status of the exporters to avoid trouble.
Some Japanese second-hand vehicles dealers are aware of the problem and are taking voluntary preventive actions. A private industrial association, the Japan Used Motor Vehicles Exporters Association (JUMVEA http://www.jumvea.or.jp), is making efforts to ease the process of identifying bona fide vehicle exporters for the sound development of used vehicle exports. Prospective individual buyers of used vehicles from Japan may find the JUMVEA members' list useful, though the Embassy of Japan is not in a position to endorse each member.