Petrol, diesel and electric car owners could all be caught out by the latest motoring scam in 2025.

13:12, Tue, Feb 25, 2025 | UPDATED: 13:16, Tue, Feb 25, 2025

car parked

Motorists are being 'tricked' by a new car tax scam (Image: Getty)

Drivers are being “tricked” into a new scam ahead of Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) car tax changes being introduced in weeks. 

Experts have claimed drivers were receiving fake “VED payment requests” by scammers in a bid to fool drivers. 

Motorists unaware of the scams could fall victim to the message and hand over their personal details to criminals. 

Fraudsters are taking advantage of the new VED updates which come into force this April. 

Petrol and diesel owners face the brunt of the new fees with hefty increases to first-year VED fees. 

text message driving

Fake messages ahead of new VED changes could catch drivers out (Image: Getty)

However, electric cars will face charges for the first time with zero-emission models put on the new standard VED rate of £195. 

Rhydian Jones, Confused.com car insurance expert, urged motorists to avoid any potentially fake messages in the run-up to the new rules.

Rhydian said: “Since the budget, drivers are coming to terms with the increase in Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) in any new petrol or diesel cars purchased next year, as well as new standard rate charge increases for all internal combustion engine (ICE) cars. 

“The Chancellor has brought this decision in to widen the gap between electric and ICE vehicles, as EVs will only have to pay £10 in VED from next year. The hope is that this will encourage more drivers to buy green instead.

“However, some drivers are being tricked by VED payment requests which are in fact scams, and are being warned to avoid these."

Confused.com has urged road users to always check their records before making any payment. 

Drivers who receive an email asking for VED payments nowhere near their renewal date will know to avoid it and not pay up. 

They stress there are usually many warning signs to look out for including spelling mistakes and strange formatting. 

Invalid email

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Meanwhile, scam messages will usually come from strange email addresses which do not correlate with the official sites.

Rhydian added: “If you do end up clicking a link from a scam email or text, you could end up losing a lot of money. 

“Always be vigilant, your car tax need to be renewed once per year and drivers can use our tax checker tool to see if their car is taxed and how long it has left. That way, you are less likely to fall for any unexpected notifications that could be trying to catch you out.”