POLICE have issued a warning after two people were duped into buying cloned cars and lost nearly £17,000.

Criminals clone cars by putting the identity of a genuine vehicle on to a stolen vehicle using false registration plates and stolen or forged log books.

They then advertise the car in magazines and on Internet sites, usually meeting the prospective buyer in a service station and selling it for cash.

It is only when the buyer completes the log book with the change of details or goes to the post office to tax the vehicle that the scam is uncovered, as the DVLA already has a record for that registration number.

Last week, North Yorkshire Police recovered two stolen Mitsubishi L200s. In Huby, near Easingwold, the innocent buyer lost £8,900. They other buyer, in Colburn, lost £7,800.

Sergeant Pete Mason said: "In the Colburn case, the purchaser took out a bank loan for £8,000 to buy the vehicle, which he now has to repay for the next three years with no vehicle to show for it."

He warned buyers to take photos of the seller, to pay by bank or building society draft, to get both keys and to go the seller's home address.