Be particularly wary of potential buyers who view your vehicle after the banks have closed

Vehicle sellers should be aware of the possibility of receiving forged bankers drafts when selling their vehicles.

Sellers have received what they thought were genuine bankers drafts only to be informed by their banks days later that the draft was forged. The money is then stripped from their account potentially leaving the seller out of pocket if they have already released the vehicle.

Forged bankers drafts can look genuine, with authentic looking watermarks and bank branch stamps on them, so sellers should not release vehicles until they've had firm confirmation from their bank that they can withdraw funds safely on the cheque (check with your own account holding branch for details).

Criminals can try to obtain vehicles with fraudulent drafts relying on the sellers perception that drafts are as good as cash, but banks will not honour fraudulent drafts or drafts that cannot be cleared through lack of funds.

Vehicle sellers should be aware of the possibility of receiving forged bankers drafts when selling their vehicles.

Don’t release your vehicle until you have had confirmation from your own bank that the bank draft is genuine and has been paid by the bank issuing the bank draft. Ask your bank whether the draft has been 'given value' rather than 'cleared' as it seems there is a difference between drafts being cleared and funds being in the account.

Be particularly wary of potential buyers who view your vehicle after the banks have closed (Friday or Saturday afternoon or Sunday) and produce a bank draft already made out for the full asking price. Don’t be pressured into letting the vehicle go - a genuine buyer will not mind waiting until the draft has cleared.

Important links:

• Trading Standards - http://www.tradingstandards.gov.uk/
• Metropolitan Police Fraud Alert - www.met.police.uk/fraudalert
• Report an unscrupulous dealer - enquiries@autotrader.co.uk
• Report a scammer - fraud.alert@met.police.uk

Please do not email the Metropolitan Police unless you have details of the fraudsters bank details, address or telephone numbers. Also bear in mind that the Metropolitan Police covers the Greater London area. For help across the rest of the UK, please contact your local force.