Beware of a new method of classic vehicle fraud
Published: 13/10/2025
A warning to clubs and trade supporters has been issued by the Federation of British Historic Clubs (FBHVC) about a new type of fraud – resulting in financial loss for classic vehicle owners.
The victim was privately selling a Rover car and had advertised it on their club’s website.
They were contacted by someone, giving the false name “Derek W. Jemie” expressing interest in the car (for sale at £8,500). The seller subsequently received an email containing the following message: “Thanks for your quick response. Your price is reasonable, and I would have liked to pay in cash, but my schedule is too tight to inspect it as I work as a petroleum engineer on the rig, so I will pay by Cheque.
“I am willing to offer you an additional £500 so you can keep it for me and consider it SOLD for other inquiries. The Cheque payment includes a handling and insurance fee for the transporter once the funds are cleared into your account.
“The transporter will arrange for pickup after the cheque has cleared your account. If you agree, you will receive the cheque by mail once you provide me with your Full Name to be on cheque, Address, City/Town, Postal Code, Mobile. I look forward to receiving your email with the above details soon.”
And then this email arrived: “I received your information in good time. As I informed you earlier, my job doesn’t allow sufficient time. Anyway, I would give the transport a Power of Attorney with my signature to carry out an on-site inspection on my behalf.
“Now, the payment covers the transporter's processing fee and insurance. You will deduct the total amount of £8,500 I quoted you, and the remaining money is for the transporter to proceed with the pickup from your location, only after your bank has certified the funds to be available on your account.
“Find below my information to fill in V5C log book Section 2.” They then gave an address in Castletown, Isle of Man.
The email continued: “Meanwhile, I should now be able to trust the information you provided in the ad. Payment is in transit and you should receive it in the mail soon. So kindly continue to check your mail to know when it arrives.”
The cheque did arrive and was in dollars. The seller paid it into their account, but was then told by the bank that it was been returned due to alteration. Obviously, the seller would not let the car out of my possession until the money had been cleared into their account, so they only lost the bank charges. They reported the incident to Action Fraud (see below) and requested that clubs and individuals are made aware of this type of fraud.
The address in the Isle of Man does exist; investigations revealed it to be a council house and it is likely the occupants were unaware of their address being used. This is common for this type of scam, as this BBC radio programme explains: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002f8ts
How to spot and avoid a fraud…
There are many car buying/selling scams and details of the common ones are here:
https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/advice/know-how/car-scams-and-frauds-top-tips/
Action Fraud – the government’s National Fraud & Cyber Crime unit – has advice about types of frauds and you can also report frauds:
https://www.actionfraud.police.uk/
Action Fraud also has specific examples of cheque fraud – referenced in this news story – here: https://www.actionfraud.police.uk/a-z-of-fraud/counterfeit-cheque-fraud
