8:50 am, August 8, 2024
Police have recovered the car stolen from Wheeler Dealer star Mike Brewer in a credit card scam.
Brewer – owner of the One Automotive used car dealership – was conned out of a VW Golf GTD in a credit card scam.
A criminal used a stolen card and ID to pay for the used car in two separate payments over the phone and then sent a courier to pick it up at Brewer’s dealership.
Brewer and his team did not know anything was up until Barclays contacted the business to say the card had been fraudulently used and they were going to reverse the chargers – leaving Brewer without the money, or the car.
Brewer spoke at length to Car Dealer about the scam in a video interview with Car Dealer last week where he said despite reporting the case to the police, they did not want to know.
However, the police did mark the car as stolen and when a new keeper in Scotland tried to register the Golf it alerted officers to its location.
Brewer told Car Dealer: ‘We have had a call from the police to say they have recovered the car.
‘Someone had bought the Golf for £7,500 on Facebook and paid cash for it. When they tried to register the car as their own, it was flagged as stolen and the police went around to the house.
‘They asked them if they had HPI checked the car prior to buying it – and they hadn’t – and they impounded the car.
‘Now another person has been scammed by these criminals. It shows you have to be really careful buying cars on social media sites especially when they are so cheap.
‘I am very pleased the car will be returned to us and thank the police for their efforts in recovering it.’
Mike’s business partner at One Automotive, James Elkington, said the car is set to be collected today.
He said he heard the news yesterday and was appreciative of everyone’s help in getting it returned.
Brewer added: ‘Be careful buying cars on social media and make sure you buy from a reputable dealer instead. Do your homework on them first as it’s a minefield out there.’
