TWO men have been arrested after thieves targeted unsuspecting members of the public by pretending to be police officers.

Officers issued a warning last week after thieves claiming to be plain-clothed police stole two cars being sold on Gumtree.

Members of the public who were attempting to sell cars on Gumtree were being contacted by interested buyers who then arranged to meet them.

When the meeting took place, two men claiming to be plain clothes police officers arrived and stole the car.

Police received reports of the same thing happening in the Glasgow area twice last week.

Now two men, aged 20 and 21, have been arrested in connection with the incidents.  

A spokesperson for Gumtree said: “Gumtree is committed to tackling scams and educating people about how to avoid them. We recommend that people using our site to sell vehicles meet during the day in a public place and take a friend or relative along if possible. If you have any doubts about a potential buyer, walk away and seek our advice before deciding to go through with the sale."

"Our dedicated advice page on how to spot a scam can be found on our website and we encourage anyone that thinks they may have come across a scam to report it to us immediately. Our dedicated safety team can investigate and take action such as blocking the offender from the site and aid the police in their investigation."

We are constantly working closely with the police and other authorities to ensure all our users have as safe an experience as possible."