Offences have taken place involving victims who are advertising their cars for sale on Auto Trader.

They are contacted by prospective purchasers who take the vehicle for a test drive alone and pour oil and coolant on the engine in order to achieve a vastly reduced sale price. 

No seller of a vehicle should be allowing a buyer to test drive their vehicle alone.

Another common scam is for sellers on online marketplace sites to trust the buyer has transferred money when they see a screen the buyer shows. This can be a fake screenshot.

Another scam is for a transaction through Paypal or other payment channels to be cancelled by the buyer once the goods for sale have been handed over.

Advice is to wait until the money is in your own bank account and that the seller should contact their own bank to establish this, not take the word of the buyer.