Car Fraudsters Targetting Lothians

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Taken from today's Edinburgh Evening News:

POLICE have issued a warning to car sellers in Edinburgh following a spate of scams involving fake bankers drafts. In recent months, fraudsters using bogus drafts to buy quality

second-hand cars each worth up to £10,000 have been targeting private

sellers in the Capital - leaving them heavily out of pocket.

The scams involve the fraudsters searching for second-hand cars in

trade magazines and offering to buy them with drafts instead of cash or

cheques.

The drafts, which are used to show that money has been deposited

into an account and are seen as a "safe money" guarantee, are fake but

are forged to look like genuine bank documents. But after the fraudsters buy the cars, they then quickly sell them

on to second-hand dealers at a fraction of the price - long before the

original seller realises that the fake drafts have bounced.

So far, five sellers in the Lothians have been hit by the scams and

similar incidents have been reported to police forces across the

country. Detective Sergeant James Lackie, from Lothian and Borders Police's

road crime reduction unit, said: "It's a very professional,

well-organised scam. "There have been five incidents where it has happened in our area in

recent months, and other forces have also experienced similar frauds. "It's remarkably simple. Someone expresses an interest in a car that is being sold. "They come to have a look at it and then they make an offer to pay with a bankers draft. "The drafts look authentic enough and when the seller pays one in, it takes a couple of days before it bounces. "But by that time, the car has gone and the person selling it is

left with no cash and no way of finding where the car has gone."

Det Sgt Lackie added that the fraudsters often sell the cars on to

other buyers or car dealers within 24 hours in order to cover their

tracks. He added: "The beauty of the fraud is that it takes a few days for

the draft to bounce and the thieves often sell the car on quickly at a

knock-down price. "By the time you've realised that the bankers drafts are bogus, the

car could even have been sold on a couple of times, which means that

it's difficult to track it down or find the people who sold it.

"And even if we do find the car, we then have to deal with the big

legal wrangle of who actually owns it, as you could have three

different people who have all paid money for it.

"We don't know if it is the same people who are performing these

scams, but whoever they are it's clear that they are very good con-men

who have definitely done this kind of thing before. "We would urge anyone selling a car to take extra caution when accepting a bankers draft."

A victim of one of the scams in Edinburgh, who did not wish to be

named, said that he hoped the people who conned him would be caught and

agreed that car owners should be especially careful when selling their

vehicles. He said: "I thought that a bankers draft was as good as gold and

there would be no problems with it. I never imagined that it would be a

fake.

"The emotional and psychological worry that this kind of scam puts on you is horrible.

"One minute you think that you've had a successful sale and the

next, you've been left with no car and no cash. It's like having it

stolen from you.

"Anyone that accepts a draft should wait until it clears before they

part with their car. If not, they could have the same experience that I

did."

Auto Trader has offered advice about the scams on its website,

telling sellers not to release their vehicles without confirmation from

their own banks that the drafts are genuine.

They also advise sellers to be particularly wary of potential buyers

who ask to view vehicles after the banks have closed and then produce a

bank draft already made out for the full asking price.

• A 35-year-old man has appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court in

connection with three incidents of fraud involving the sale of cars.