Fleet managers have been warned that car thieves are attempting to steal leased company cars by posing as employees of the leasing company.

In one case, thieves attempted to steal six cars on lease from ALD Automotive.

A man claiming to be an employee contacted a customer saying he and some colleagues would be at its premises within 30 minutes to collect a number of company cars.

The man said the cars were needed for work to be carried out following a manufacturer recall.

He even supplied vehicle registration numbers.

However, the customer, who had not been informed of any recall, contacted the company for clarification.

“We were able to inform our customer that this was not an authorised request which led both of us to believe it was a scam,” said ALD Automotive deputy managing director, Nigel Fletcher.

“Subsequently, the police were called and their investigations are continuing.”

Mr Fletcher added: “We would ask all fleet decision-makers to be wary of such requests being made.

"ALD Automotive has strict procedures in place for vehicle service booking and safety recall work and would not contact a customer at such short notice to pick up vehicles.

“For safety recall work we would always advise of the recall by letter or e-mail with a copy of the recall notification attached.

"We would then book the appointment for the vehicle to be collected once the company car driver contacted our booking line to arrange for the work to be carried out.

“In the case of servicing we would again arrange this at the request of the company car driver and at a mutually agreed date and time.

“We believe only one employee’s alertness foiled the theft of a number of company cars and would urge all fleet managers, fleet vehicle suppliers and their customers to be on their guard.”