Covid loan scam bid to get car

A car dealership almost lost a £41,000 Porsche after a fraudster took advantage of a Covid-19 financial rescue scheme.

James Glen Car Sales in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, was targeted by a man who offered to buy the Porsche Cayman with a lump sum on Thursday.

Stephen Bogan, who runs the business with his father Jim, received a phone call from a man who offered to pay for the car in full by bank transfer

Mr Bogan said: “I was suspicious from the word go. He told me he was buying for a corporate customer who was coming back from Dubai.”

Mr Bogan sent the man an invoice and when the money arrived in the dealership’s account, his father queried the payment with the Bank of Scotland.

It was at that point the bank revealed the money was, in fact, a loan under a scheme set up by the government to offer interest-free funds to businesses hit by the coronavirus pandemic.

The scammer applied for the loan on behalf of James Glen Car Sales using information taken from the invoice for the Porsche and data available online about the owners. Mr Bogan criticised the bank for not doing more checks. The Bank of Scotland said all such loan applications were subject to fraud checks.