Native storage saves couple from fraud after engine oil rip-off

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An area storage in Hertfordshire helped uncover a rip-off the place a con man posing as an  automobile purchaser had tampered with the automobile’s engine to knock cash off the asking worth.

As reported within the Shropshire Star, Jerry Scagell and Jennie Shaw fell sufferer to a fraudster that claimed to be a mechanic who was fascinated by privately shopping for their Skoda Octavia Scout.

The “automobile purchaser” requested to look underneath the bonnet whereas the proprietor went to get their V5 paperwork.

After then taking the Skoda for a check drive it appeared that oil had leaked all around the engine bay.

The “automobile purchaser” provided £7,000 underneath asking worth to take the “drawback automobile” off their palms.

Nonetheless, Scagell resisted the temptation to promote at a knockdown worth and as a substitute despatched the Octavia to an area storage to research.

It transpired that the caps to the coolant tank and engine compartment had been eliminated, which had despatched oil and water leaking over the engine bay in the course of the check drive the day prior to this.

Repairs value the couple £400, however they prevented a extra pricey sum after being duped by the fraudster.

The oil rip-off has been prevalent for years, with the RAC warning again in 2018 that the observe from con artists was making a comeback.

On this variation of the rip-off, fraudsters can pour oil into the coolant reservoir of the automobile on the market, after which provide a cut-price as a result of they falsely declare the engine is wrecked.

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