Almost every car rental scam in Malaysia has the same middle step. You send money to someone before you've seen the car, the company behind it, or a single document with a registration number on it. Refuse that step and most of the scams below have nothing to work with.
They still come in different shapes, and each shape has its own check. None of the checks takes more than a few minutes.
The car at half the going rate
A listing on Facebook, Instagram or TikTok shows a clean car at a price well under everyone else's. The photos are real, but they belong to someone else. In one reported case a scammer copied a used-car dealer's photo of a car, advertised it on Facebook Marketplace for a fraction of the dealer's price, took the money in two transfers and then blocked the buyer. That was a sale rather than a rental, and police in Miri warned in October 2026 that vehicle ads priced far below market value are the usual bait. A rental ad works the same way, with a smaller payment.
The check: compare the day rate with two or three companies that have a showroom you can visit. A Range Rover at a Myvi price isn't a bargain. For reference, Grandpride shows its rate on every car's page, from RM 200 a day for a Perodua Myvi upwards, and the full fleet list has the rest.
"Pay the deposit now or someone else takes it"
In rental fraud cases, police have described the same set of moves: pressure to pay straight away because only a few are left, excuses to avoid meeting in person, and phone numbers, bank accounts and social media accounts that change from one victim to the next. PDRM was talking about property rentals when it described these tactics. Nothing in them depends on what is being rented.
The check: don't pay until you've dealt with the business somewhere real, a showroom, an office or the person delivering the car. A genuine company can live with "I'll pay when I see it."
With Grandpride, reserving online takes a RM 50 booking fee through the website's own checkout, and it comes off your total. You reserve the car, then pay in store at the Petaling Jaya showroom or in person when it's delivered. CHECK: does Grandpride ever ask for any payment or deposit by bank transfer before handover, and if so, into which company account name?
The account name that doesn't match
The page says one company name. The bank details are in a person's name, or a different company's. There's usually a reason ready: it's the boss's account, the company account is being updated.
Two checks cover this:
- Semak Mule, the Royal Malaysia Police portal, lets you enter a bank account number, a phone number or a company name and see whether it has turned up in an earlier fraud report. A clean result doesn't prove anything, since scammers rotate accounts. A match is a reason to stop.
- SSM e-Search looks a company up by its registration number. Ask for the number, look it up, and make sure the registered name matches the invoice and the bank account. Grandpride's legal name is Grandpride Luxury Travel Sdn. Bhd., company no. 201801035116 (1297143-K).
A real car with no rental permit
This one isn't fake. The car exists and you get the keys. The problem is that it's somebody's private car being rented out without a permit.
In Peninsular Malaysia, self-drive rental operators are permitted through APAD, the land public transport agency. Permitted rental cars are inspected every six months and carry a hexagon sticker, and the public can check an operator's status with APAD. APAD has said that renting out a private car for commercial use is illegal and breaches the insurance policy's terms, and the Road Transport Department has warned that such cars can be seized. If it's seized mid-rental, the car and your money are both gone. If there's an accident, the insurance may not cover you or the other driver.
So look for the hexagon sticker, ask for the permit and check it with APAD. Ask Grandpride the same question CHECK: Grandpride's APAD rental permit details to display here. Our guide on how to inspect a rental car covers the rest of the walk-around at handover.
A page wearing a real company's name
Police also note that rental scammers impersonate genuine agents and owners. With cars, the easy version is a page or a WhatsApp number using an established rental company's name, logo and photos.
Take the phone number from the company's own website or its Google Business Profile, never from an ad, a comment or a forwarded message. Grandpride's number is +6010 322 3223 CHECK: confirm this is the only phone and WhatsApp number Grandpride takes bookings on, and the showroom is at Lot 5A / No. 5, Jalan 13/2, Section 13, Petaling Jaya, open Monday to Saturday 9 am–9 pm and Sunday 10 am–8 pm. You can walk in. The details are also on our contact page.
The company that asks nothing about you
Scams run the other way too. In October 2026 the MCA's complaints bureau publicised the case of a man alleged to have rented cars from owners, paid on time for a few months, then vanished with them, disabled the trackers and sold or pawned the cars. That's why genuine companies ask for your licence and ID, take a deposit and sometimes turn a booking down. If someone hands over a luxury car without asking who you are, wonder whose car it is.
What Grandpride asks for at handover is CHECK: the licence, age and ID documents Grandpride requires. On Grandpride's Be a Host programme, guests are verified with ID, licence and a background check before they drive a host's car. Our guide to rental car deposits explains what a deposit should cover and when it comes back.
Before money moves
- You took the contact details from the company's own website, not from an ad.
- The registration number checks out on SSM e-Search and the name matches.
- The bank account and phone number are clean on Semak Mule, and the account is in the company's name.
- The car has a hexagon sticker, or the operator shows you its permit.
- You have the price in writing: day rate, mileage, protection, deposit and when the deposit is returned.
- You've seen the car or the premises.
If a company won't let you tick one of these off, don't pay it.
Questions before you pay
How do I avoid car rental scams?
Pay nothing before you've met the business in person, check the company and its bank account, and look for the rental permit. Most scams fail at the first of those.
Is renting a car from a social media ad legit?
It can be. Plenty of real companies advertise on Facebook and Instagram. The ad itself proves nothing, so run the same checks on a company you found on social media as on one you found anywhere else.
How do I check car rental reviews in Malaysia?
Read Google reviews over a long stretch of time, including the older ones, and read the one-star reviews and how the company replied. A page with hundreds of glowing reviews and no address is less convincing than a showroom with a mixed record.
Do legit companies take a deposit?
Most do, and that's normal. The warning sign is paying a deposit into a personal account before you've seen anything. If the "no deposit" offer is what's drawing you in, read what a no-deposit rental really means first.
If you've already paid
Move quickly. Call the National Scam Response Centre on 997, which runs 24 hours; the government's advice is to report within 24 hours of realising, because that's when accounts can still be frozen. Call your bank's fraud line as well, then make a police report at the nearest station. Keep screenshots of the ad, the chat and the transfer receipt, and don't delete the conversation even after you've been blocked.
