The "girlie" looking car is eye catching enough with its sleek lines and black trim and with an asking price of £3,000 it seems a good buy.

The only trouble is – the car doesn't exist.

Buyers are duped by a series of convincing emails into handing over the money before they receive the vehicle.

They are told the date of delivery, only to be left high and dry when nothing appears.

Kelly, 23, of Cooper Drive was duped after answering an ad' in car magazine Auto Trader.

"I'd already got a loan because I wanted to buy a Mini," she said.

I thought I would look through Auto Trader which I did online.

"I typed in £3000 as the money I wanted to spend and it came up with a number of cars, with this particular one at the top.

"I clicked on the pictures of it and it was a yellow 2002 Mini One.

There were interior pictures as well and it looked really nice with its interior black trim.

"It was really nice, perfect in fact and it was only £3000.

"I got the loan only because I have a mortgage and couldn't possibly manage to save that amount of money in so little time."

There was no phone number for the seller, just the name Leona Bromley and an email address.

Kelly sent off an email asking if the car was still for sale and was delighted when a reply came back that it was.

Leona Bromley even sent more pictures of the yellow Mini, described as a 1.6 three-door hatchback.

When Kelly asked for a phone number to speak to her she received a reply to the effect that the seller was now back in her home country of Germany.

"She explained she had recently divorced her husband and had moved out of their home in London to return to Germany.

"I got an email to say the car was in storage in this country and she wanted a quick sale because she didn't want it back home with her.

"I agreed to buy the car and then in a third email she said I would be contacted by ebay regarding how I should make the payment."

Soon afterwards Kelly received an official looking email headed 'ebay Motors.'

She was instructed how to make the payment and told that her money would be held in an account and not handed onto the seller until she had received the car and was happy with it.