Since June, the DVLA...

Since June, the DVLA has sent out the four-sided ownership document instead of the V5. On receipt, owners are supposed to destroy the old one - but the breakdown firm believes criminals aren"t playing ball. "They use the old V5 to create a new identity for a car they have stolen," an AA spokesman explained.

The risk is to car buyers. As the DVLA won"t release vehicle information to anyone but the owner, the only way someone else can check for dodgy paperwork is by looking at the tax disc. If it was issued after June 2004, the vehicle should come with the new V5, renamed V5C. Thankfully, the scam will not work after July 2005 - by then, all old logbooks will have been replaced.