A FARMER has told of his shock after becoming a victim of an international car ringing scam.

Fred Welch, of Ellis Farm, Sherfield-on-Loddon, was horrified when he was told by police that his £33,500 Toyota Landcruiser did not belong to him and had in fact been stolen from Japan.

Mr Welch is one of tens of thousands of car buyers across the UK who have fallen victim to the worldwide organised car crime racket, which was featured on BBC's Watchdog this week and dubbed "the biggest car fraud in the world".

A major police investigation into the fraud - known as Operation Oracle - was launched three years ago and is being led by Whit-church traffic intelligence officer Steve Shaw.

It uncovered that around 70,000 cars had been stolen from Japan and were being sent to Dubai where many have been "uplifted" with interior fabrics being changed to leather and left-hand drives changed to right-hand drives, before being imported to Britain.

Chassis numbers are changed and painted over and seatbelts, which carry a date when the car was manufactured, are being stripped so that vehicles can be sold as brand new when in fact some were up to six years old.

Mr Welch purchased his Landcruiser 15 months ago from an innocent car dealer in Wiltshire where he had previously bought two other cars.

All the necessary checks were made by the DVLA in Swansea when the car was registered, but a loophole in the system of importing cars from abroad meant that the vehicle never showed up as being stolen in Japan.

Police only discovered Mr Welch's car did not belong to him when he tried to personalise his number plate through the DVLA.

Mr Welch said: "I had a visit from a police officer one evening who said my Landcruiser had been stolen from Japan and had to be seized and returned to the owner.

"I couldn't believe it. I was shocked and gutted and couldn't really sleep.

"The car I had paid more than £30,000 for was not mine and my insurance had never been valid."

Fortunately, Mr Welch is being reimbursed by the dealer, who has lost more than £100,000 through the scam - but thousands of other people will lose out.

Traffic intelligence officer Steve Shaw said: "We have had one in the Basingstoke area and there will be others - this is just the tip of the iceberg."

Toyota Landcruisers, Nissan Skyline, Honda NSX, Mitsubishi EVO and the entire Lexus range are the main cars targeted by the car ringers.

Anyone who fears they may be a victim should contact their local police station on 0845 045 45 45.