Police are urging the public to be wary of a scam targeting car sales.
A person claiming to be Dunedin car salesman Andrew Graham is emailing sellers on websites such as Drivesouth asking for their bank account details and offering to buy their vehicles, Southern police spokesman Nic Barkley said.
It was unclear what the person behind the scam wanted, but they asked for bank account details in every case police were aware of, he said.
The offers of purchase are received from an unverified email address under the name Andrew Graeme and outline steps including shipping cars for ''Dunedin stock'.
Dunedin police contacted Mr Graham, of Stadium Cars, and confirmed the emails were not initiated by him.
All correspondence from Mr Graham, or Stadium Cars would come from the official @stadiumcars.co.nz email address.
Police were not aware of anyone being defrauded or losing their vehicles from the scam, Mr Barkley said.
''At the moment, as far as we are aware no-one has fallen prey to it,'' he said.
''It's about prevention - making sure people are aware of it. Be wary of this.
''If anyone has fallen victim to it or received these emails we urge them to contact police so we can help.''
People who received the emails contacted Mr Graham directly to clarify the matter and avoided giving out personal details.
Police said if people received an email claiming to be from
a reputable company, but the email address did not look official, they should
call the company on the number listed in the phonebook, or on their website, to confirm the legitimacy of the email.
Anyone who believed they might have been targeted by the scam or with information that could help should contact Dunedin police on 471-4800.
Information can also be provided anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555-111.
