Crime Solicitors

Trading Standards Officers in Leicester are warning consumers not to fall for an online scam in which customers pay up-front for high-value cars that turn out not to exist.

The scam involves cars advertised for sale on the Internet auction site eBay, with fraudsters using the name and details of a genuine Leicestershire transport courier firm to con customers into believed they can collect their newly-bought cars from the firm's Leicester address.

Customers are told that the sale is being handled by a third-party company – calling itself Transport 4 Business – but those who turn up to collect their car find the address is actually the accounts office of a genuine local firm called Transport 4 Business, which is not involved in the scam in any way.

To date, five would-be local buyers have already lost more than £30,000, after transferring money to pay for cars which turned out not to exist.

eBay adverts for cars are posted under a range of different user names – and customers who reply to the adverts then receive emails from the seller, explaining that he has moved abroad and has left his car with a third-party seller, Transport 4 Business, based at 21, High View Close in Hamilton.

The seller claims that the car cannot be viewed, as the premises are not a showroom.

Customers are then emailed by someone claiming to be from Transport 4 Business, who requests full payment for the vehicle up front and guarantees to refund this if they decide not to buy it.

Leicester Trading Standards manager Ron Ruddock said:

“This is quite a sophisticated scam, involving cloning the details of an innocent local firm to fool people into thinking that these online purchases are genuine.

“Anyone who has answered an advert offering to supply them with a vehicle via any third-party holding company should be very careful.

“Most importantly, they should never pay money up-front for vehicles they have not seen and inspected.

“Also, anyone buying a vehicle should do so with a credit card, which provides extra protection if a trader breaches the contract.”

The genuine Transport 4 Business courier firm is shocked that the company's name and details are being used fraudulently.

CEO of the Transport 4 Business courier firm, Mark Brown, said:

“We took a phone call from our accountants a few weeks ago to say they had a customer in reception wanting to see the vehicle for which he was about to transfer the money – and obviously we had no knowledge of a vehicle, nor were we selling one.

“This is our livelihood – and to have somebody threatening that with no fault of your own is unsettling.

”We would urge anybody not to transfer money to a person for a vehicle they have not seen.

“As the old saying goes, if something is too good to be true, it probably is.”

Duncan Lewis Fraud Lawyers

Duncan Lewis fraud lawyers can advise at any stage of a charge involving online fraud, as well as charges relating to company fraud, financial fraud, boiler room scams, ticketing fraud, credit card fraud, benefit fraud and white collar crime.

There are Duncan Lewis offices nationwide – and a Duncan Lewis fraud lawyer can advise at the beginning of an investigation into fraud or before charges are brought.

For expert legal advice on fraud charges, call Duncan Lewis fraud lawyers on 020 7943 4020.

For 24/7 help at a police station, call the Duncan Lewis Emergency Hotline on 020 7275 2036.