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Vehicle scams have soared by 74% in the UK in the first half of the year, with victims losing almost £1,000 on average, research suggests.

Victims, often responding to bogus online advertisements, are being duped into paying deposits to “secure” a vehicle in the face of what sellers say is stiff competition, according to a study by Lloyds Bank.

One of the nation’s favourite cars, the Ford Fiesta, is the most popular vehicle to be used in scams, the bank said, but BMWs and Audis also feature heavily among the fake ads, with motorbikes and classic cars also cropping up regularly.

Vans are also popular and there is a thriving trade in fake ads for parts and accessories, such as alloy wheels.

People aged between 25 and 34 are those most likely to be stung.

More than two thirds (68%) of all car and van scams analysed were advertised on Meta platforms, Facebook (including Facebook Marketplace) and Instagram, while 15% of vehicle scams began on eBay.

Fraudsters often include pictures of real cars or vans to convince the unsuspecting buyer that they are genuine.

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When someone responds, they will often be asked to make a deposit to “secure” the car, or even sometimes to pay the full amount, while the scammer makes excuses to explain why the car cannot be physically viewed beforehand.

Pressure-selling tactics, such as telling the buyer the car is very popular, that they have several other offers, or that the payment must be made by a certain deadline, are frequently employed.

Victims may be tricked into sending money via bank transfer and as soon as a payment is made, the buyer will be blocked and the seller’s profile will disappear.

Occasionally, a fake address will be provided at which to collect the car, leaving buyers with a wasted trip alongside the financial loss.

Luke’s story – a fake Fiesta from Philip

Luke (name changed) was searching for a new car on Facebook Marketplace when he saw an advert for a two-year old Ford Fiesta for £5,400.

While it didn’t appear to be local to where he lived, he contacted the seller, who called himself Philip.

Philip said the vehicle was still available but there was lots of interest from other prospective buyers, as it was a really good price and the vehicle was in great condition, implying Luke would have to move quickly.

On requesting more photos of the inside and outside of the car, Luke received the images, but thought they looked slightly different to the vehicle being advertised.

However he checked the car registration on the DVLA (Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency) website, which confirmed it was taxed and had an MOT valid until May 2024.

When Luke asked to meet Philip in person to see the car, Philip refused, claiming he lived too far away and that he used a shipping company to deliver the vehicles he sold. However he said Luke could pay a deposit and then transfer the remaining balance after he had received the vehicle.

Luke still felt unsure about this, so to allay his concerns, Philip provided some personal details (including a copy of his passport) in an attempt to prove he was legitimate.

On agreeing to continue with the purchase, Luke was sent bank account details to make the initial payment. The account details were under the name of a different individual, who Philip claimed was his ‘Customer Support Manager’.

When Luke sent £540 as a 10% deposit on the total purchase price of the car, he received an email from Philip to say that the payment had gone through, and he would now arrange delivery.

Luke didn’t receive the vehicle. Philip’s profile disappeared from Facebook, and any attempts to contact him via email have gone unanswered.

Ford Fiestas have been highly popular in the genuine sales market, possibly because the manufacturer recently stopped making them.

Liz Ziegler, Fraud Prevention Director at Lloyds Bank called the rapid growth in reports of people being scammed when shopping for vehicles on social media “alarming”.

She said: “The vast majority of these scams start on Facebook, where it’s far too easy for criminals to set up fake profiles and advertise items that simply don’t exist.

“It’s time social media companies were held accountable for their lax approach to protecting consumers, given the vast majority of fraud starts on their platforms.

“Buying directly from approved dealers is the best way to guarantee you’re paying for a genuine vehicle, and always use your debit or credit card for maximum safety.

“If you do want to buy something you’ve found through social media, only transfer funds once the car is in your possession.”

Sky News has contacted Meta and eBay for comment.

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Italian restaurant chain Gusto on brink of administration

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Italian restaurant chain Gusto on brink of administration

The intense financial pressure facing Britain’s casual dining sector will be underlined this week when Gusto, the Italian restaurant chain, falls into administration.

Sky News has learnt that Interpath Advisory is preparing a pre-pack insolvency of Gusto, which trades from 13 sites.

Sources said that a vehicle set up by Cherry Equity Partners, the owner of Latin American restaurant concept Cabana, was the likely buyer.

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It is expected to take over most of Gusto’s sites although some job losses are likely.

A deal could be announced in the coming days, according to insiders.

The collapse of Gusto, which is backed by private equity investor Palatine, follows a string of increasingly heated warnings from hospitality executives about the impact of tax rises on the sector.

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Kate Nicholls, who chairs UK Hospitality, said this month that the industry faced a jobs bloodbath amid growing financial pressure on operators.

This week, Sky News reported that the restaurant industry veteran David Page, a former boss of PizzaExpress, was raising £10m to take advantage of cut-price acquisition opportunities in casual dining.

Mr Page is planning to become executive chairman of London-listed Tasty, which owns Wildwood and dim t, and rename it Bow Street Group.

A placing of shares in the company is likely to be completed this week.

Interpath declined to comment on the Gusto process.

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Tide turns as TPG leads talks to lead digital bank fundraising

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Tide turns as TPG leads talks to lead digital bank fundraising

TPG, the American private equity giant, is in advanced talks to take a stake in Tide, the British-based digital banking services platform.

Sky News has learnt that TPG, which manages more than $250bn in assets, is discussing acquiring a significant shareholding in the company.

Sources said that Tide’s existing investors were expected to sell shares to TPG, while a separate deal would involve another existing shareholder in the company acquiring newly issued shares.

The two transactions may be conducted at different valuations, although both are likely to see the company valued at at least $1bn, the sources added.

The size of TPG’s prospective stake in Tide was unclear on Monday.

Earlier this year, Sky News reported that Tide had been negotiating the terms of an investment from Apis Partners, a prolific investor in the fintech sector, although it was unclear whether this would now proceed.

Tide has roughly 650,000 SME customers in both Britain and India, with the latter market expanding at a faster rate.

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Morgan Stanley, the Wall Street bank, has been advising Tide on its fundraising.

Tide was founded in 2015 by George Bevis and Errol Damelin, before launching two years later.

It describes itself as the leading business financial platform in the UK, offering business accounts and related banking services.

The company also provides its SME ‘members’ in the UK a set of connected administrative solutions from invoicing to accounting.

It now boasts a roughly 11% SME banking market share in Britain.

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Tide, which employs about 2,000 people, also launched in Germany last May.

The company’s investors include Apax Partners, Augmentum Fintech and LocalGlobe.

Chaired by the City grandee Sir Donald Brydon, Tide declined to comment on Monday.

TPG also declined to comment.

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Trump trade war could still see America come off worse

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Trump trade war could still see America come off worse

It is a trade deal that will “rebalance, but enable trade on both sides,” said Ursula von der Leyen after the EU and US struck a trade deal in Scotland.

It was not the most emphatic declaration by the president of the European Commission.

The trading partnership between two of the biggest markets in the world is in significantly worse shape than it was before Donald Trump was elected, but this deal is better than nothing.

As part of the agreement, European exports to the US will be hit with a 15% tariff. That’s better than the 30% the bloc was threatened with but it is a world away from the type of open and free trade European leaders would like. The EU had offered tariff free trade to the US just weeks before the deal was announced.

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Instead, it has accepted a 15% tariff and agreed to ramp up its energy purchases from the US.

The EU tariff on US imports will remain close to zero but Europe did get some important exemptions – on aviation, critical raw materials, some chemicals and some medical equipment. That being said, the bloc did not achieve a breakthrough on steel, aluminium or copper, which are still facing a 50% tariff. It means the average tariff on EU exports to the US will now rise from 1.2 % last year to 17%.

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There is also confusion over the status of pharmaceuticals – an important industry to Europe. Products like Ozempic, which is made in Denmark, have flooded into the US market in recent years and Donald Trump was threatening tariffs as high as 50% on the sector.

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US and EU agree trade deal

It appears that pharmaceuticals will fall under the 15% bracket, even though President Trump contradicted official announcements by suggesting a deal had not yet been made on the industry. The risk is that the implementation of the deal could be beset with differences of interpretation, as has been the case with the Japan deal that Trump struck last week.

It also risks fracturing solidarity between EU states, all of which have different strategic industries that rely on the US to differing degrees. Germany’s BDI federation of industrial groups said: “Even a 15% tariff rate will have immense negative effects on export-oriented German industry.”

The VCI chemical trade association said rates were still “too high”. For German carmakers, including Mercedes and BMW, there was some reprieve from the crippling 27.5% tariff imposed by Trump. The industry is Europe’s top exporter to the US but the German trade body, the VDA, warned that a 15% rate would “cost the German automotive industry billions annually”.

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Who’s the winner in the US-EU trade deal?

Meanwhile, François Bayrou, the French Prime Minister, described the agreement as a “dark day” for the union, “when an alliance of free peoples, gathered to affirm their values and defend their interests, resolves to submission.”

While the deal has divided the bloc, the greater certainty it delivers is not to be snubbed at.

Markets bounced on the news, even though the deal will ultimately harm economic growth.

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‘Millions’ of EU jobs were in firing line

Analysts at Oxford Economics said: “We don’t plan material changes to our eurozone baseline forecast of 1.1% GDP growth this year and 0.8% in 2026 in response to the EU-US trade deal.

“While the effective tariff rate will end up at around 15%, a few percentage points higher than in our baseline, lower uncertainty and no EU retaliation are partial offsets.”

However, economists at Capital Economics said the economic outlook had now deteriorated, with growth in the bloc likely to drop by 0.2%. Germany and Ireland could be the hardest hit.

While the US appears to be the obvious winner in this negotiation, uncertainty still hangs over the US economy.

Trump has not achieved his goal of “90 deals in 90 days” and, in the end, American consumers could still bear the cost through higher prices.

That of course depends on how businesses share the burden of those higher costs, with the latest data suggesting that inflation is yet to rip through the US economy. While Europe determined on Sunday that a bad deal is better than no deal, some fear that the worst is yet to come for the Americans.

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