Warning as 'scammers tamper with car'

A couple have warned they could have been in "serious trouble" if they did not spot that "scammers had tampered with their car".

Janice and Keith Thomas, from Cirencester, Gloucestershire, believe two men posed as potential buyers, but instead "vandalised their vehicle".

Dash cam footage appears to show one of the men pouring oil into the car's engine and coolant system on 23 September, in what's known as the "dirty oil trick" - a scam used to drive down asking prices.

A spokesperson for Autotrader, the website the men used to contact the couple, said they have a security team working seven days a week to tackle these scams.

Ms Thomas wants to make other sellers aware of the "dirty oil trick"

Two men, who claimed to be from Cardiff, arranged to meet Mr Thomas as potential buyers.

Mr Thomas agreed for them to take the car on a test drive. Before they took out the vehicle, one of them distracted Mr Thomas while the other appeared to pour diesel oil over the engine and coolant system.

They then took the car out for a drive, but nothing went wrong.

Once they returned, Mr Thomas said the men left quickly and he noticed a large puddle of oil where the car was parked.

He said if it had not been for an "attentive neighbour's" dash cam, he would never had checked the engine and coolant.

"I could have driven around for some time and if you are on the motorway you could be in serious trouble when it eventually goes wrong," he said.

Mr Thomas, who is a retired mechanic, was able to flush the car's system and there was no damage to the vehicle.

The "dirty oil trick" is not a new scam, experts have said

Two days later, AutoTrader contacted the couple with safety concerns.

Mrs Thomas said: "Something has clearly happened which has informed the company they are not straight forward and honest."

She added the incident has left her feeling "violated, vulnerable and a little stupid".

A spokesperson from AutoTrader said this is not a new scam and the company uses telephone numbers to find the buyer's profile and block them from the website.

"We can also use that number to track people who have been in contact with the same number and recommend them not to proceed, which was the case in this incident," they added.

Gloucestershire Police urged people to report these incidents to Action Fraud.