Drivers warned over vehicle scam

Police say you should be wary if you are sold a car in a car park

An East Lothian man is warning car buyers to be "extra vigilant" after he was duped by organised criminals who sold him a stolen van.

The 41-year-old, from Musselburgh, who does not want to be named, said he was stung by the scam after replying to a magazine advert to buy a van.

He flew to Birmingham, had all the checks done but months later found out it had been stolen.

He is the seventh driver from the Lothians area to be scammed in a year.

He told BBC Scotland's news website how the con artist used stolen DVLA documents to hide the fact that the Mercedes Sprinter had been stolen.

He only found out about the fraud when he was contacted by the police.

The painter and decorator said: "I met the guy at the airport and we drove in the van to a house and I did an HPI check to see if it had been stolen or damaged but it all came back fine.

People need to be extra vigilant when they are buying cars from magazines as I had done all the checks but I was still caught out Fraud victim

"It turned out the logbook had been stolen from a batch the DVLA had been sending to be destroyed, so the codes all appeared fine for the HPI check.

"But months later, once the actual papers were checked by the DVLA, they knew they were from the stolen batch and the police were called."

He said he had paid £10,000 for the van with money he had been saving for years, and that he "felt sick" when the vehicle -which was stolen from the Royal Mail - was recovered by police.

The Royal Mail offered to sell the van back to the man because it had purchased a new model by the time police had found the stolen one.

He therefore spent £20,00 in total.

He said: "After months of not having a van for my business I was given the chance to buy it back again from the Royal Mail, and I had to pay another £10,000.

"I want to warn people that they need to be extra vigilant when they are buying cars from magazines as I had done all the checks but I was still caught out."

Forged paperwork

The other victims bought vehicles including a BMW X3, an Audi and a Mercedes Jeep.

In the latest incident, which happened in Edinburgh, a buyer spent £9,000 on an Audi A3 he saw advertised in Auto Trader magazine.

The vehicle was discovered to have been stolen in England, and it was seized by police.

In another recent incident that happened in the capital, a man bought a BMW X3, spending £9,000.

The vehicle had also been advertised in the magazine, and was seized after it was discovered to have been stolen in England.

In both incidents the seller used forged or stolen paperwork in order to dupe the buyer.

Det Con Steven Carroll, said: "Drivers should have a motoring organisation such as the AA or RAC examine the vehicle before they buy it. It costs about £50 but is well worth it to make sure you are not buying a stolen vehicle.

"There are a number of checks that can be undertaken in order to establish the legitimacy of a vehicle, the most important of which is making sure that the 17-character Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) matches the number on the V5C logbook.

"Buyers should also check that the VIN, which is normally riveted under the bonnet but could be elsewhere on the vehicle, has not been tampered with."