Motorists are being warned of scam emails from criminals claiming to represent the DVLA.

Fraudsters are imitating the DVLA to convince drivers to hand over their personal details.

A number of the emails claiming to be from the Government agency warn drivers of unpaid tax.

They often come with the subject line “Vehicle Tax Status – Unpaid!”.

Consumer expert Which? warned: “The latest dodgy DVLA email tries to create a sense of urgency with the subject line: ‘Vehicle Tax Status - Unpaid!’ and uses the Gov.uk logo to appear genuine. The email goes on to say:

“‘Dear [your email address]. Your bank has declined twice the latest Direct Debit payment. If you will not update your information, your vehicle is no longer taxed.’

“The email includes a link, which states: ‘In order to continue to the payment page please use the following link.'

“If you click on this link, malware could be downloaded onto your device, or you may be taken to a website that asks for your personal data.”

DVLA scam warning

A DVLA spokesman said they would never ask for bank details over email, and the only place to access genuine DVLA services is through the Gov.UK website.

A similar scam email has been spotted with scammer impersonating TV licensing officials as well.

This is the advice from Which? if scammers contact you: “The first thing to do is check is the email address that the message is being sent from. For example, TV Licensing sends its emails from donotreply@tvlicensing.co.uk or donotreply@spp.tvlicensing.co.uk.

“If you hover over any links included in the email, you’ll be able to see if they lead to an official website or not. Don't click these links. Instead, navigate to the company's website manually and log in to your account to see if you have any notifications.”