scrap car fraudsters

Most scrap car dealers are honest, licensed businesses. But rogue traders exist, and when they strike it is usually the seller who loses. The most common scam is painfully simple: a trader agrees a price, collects the car, and then never pays, or hands over far less than promised. By the time you realise, the car is gone and the phone goes unanswered. The warning signs below are your best protection.

A real case: the Coventry rogue trader

This is not hypothetical. In one widely reported case, a Coventry trader was convicted at Warwick Crown Court on 18 counts of misleading consumers after agreeing to buy scrap and broken-down vehicles from people across a huge area, from Kent to Derbyshire, and then failing to pay them, or paying much less than agreed. He was ordered to pay more than £15,000 in costs and compensation and received a suspended prison sentence. Many of his victims only got anything back because Trading Standards stepped in.

The lesson is blunt: a professional-looking website and a good price are not proof you are dealing with a legitimate business.

The warning signs of a scrap car scam

How to scrap your car safely

Get your quote in writing before collection, and do not release the car until payment is confirmed, by bank transfer, not cash. Check the collector is operating through a licensed ATF, complete the V5C notification to the DVLA, and make sure you receive your Certificate of Destruction. The five steps to scrapping a car puts the whole compliant process in order.

At Remove My Car, every collection in the network is handled by a licensed, vetted Authorised Treatment Facility. The price you are quoted is the price you are paid, payment is made securely by bank transfer, and your Certificate of Destruction is issued so you are fully protected, legally and financially. Most dealers are not criminals, but even legal ones can play sharp with bait prices and doorstep haggling. If you are still deciding who to sell to, how scrapping with a trusted network works covers what to expect before you commit.

Run a scrap business? Fraudsters target the trade too

Fraud in this industry cuts both ways. Dealers get targeted as well, particularly through cheque fraud. In one reported case, a Midlands car breaker had a fraudulent cheque for over £2,000 processed by a bank before being caught, with a second intercepted before it cleared.

Seven ways to protect a scrap business against cheque fraud:

1. Use bank transfers wherever possible. Some customers may be reluctant to share bank details, in which case a cheque may be unavoidable, but treat it as the exception and apply the precautions below.

2. Restrict access to your chequebooks. The fewer people who can physically reach them, the smaller your exposure. Keep them locked away and know exactly who holds them.

3. Check IDs and proof of address carefully. If anything looks slightly off or feels wrong, trust that instinct and ask for further proof. A genuine customer will not object.

4. Never issue a blank cheque. There are no exceptions to this one.

5. Write cheques defensively. Do not leave space for the amount or wording to be altered. Fill gaps with a line and keep figures tight against the pound sign.

6. Review your cheque payments yourself, regularly. Do not rely on your bank to catch fraudulent payments. Banks can and do miss them.

7. Consider modern payment and identity-checking systems. Know Your Customer technology and alternative payment platforms carry an extra cost, but you may decide the added peace of mind is worth it.

Cases as previously reported and published by Remove My Car. Cash payment ban: Scrap Metal Dealers Act 2013 and equivalent Scottish provisions, legislation.gov.uk. Checked 28 August 2026.