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A driver has issued an urgent warning to motorists selling vehicles online after “black oil” scammers sabotaged his car. Jay Cross, from Folkestone, Kent, says conmen posing as buyers distracted him while secretly pouring oil on the engine of his Mercedes in a bid to convince him it was worthless.

The 64-year-old says the pair harassed him for more than an hour and a half before he felt compelled to give them £200 just to make them leave. Mr Cross said: “There is an overriding duty to warn and safeguard others who may be fooled into believing these very persuasive scammers."

He added: "Anyone trying to sell a car online needs to look out for these criminals.”

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Mr Cross was contacted and visited by two men after they found his 2014 Mercedes, valued at £12,000, for sale. They were at his home between about 5pm and 6.30pm on Tuesday, January 13.

Mr Cross said: “They said they wanted to buy it. Within two or three minutes they asked me to move the car away from the security camera for better light, which I thought was a bit odd.”

While one man distracted him by asking to see inside the boot, the other quietly opened the bonnet, poured used black engine oil into the water reservoir and sprayed oil across the engine bay. When the car was started, smoke began to billow out. The pair claimed the engine had blown and would cost £10,000 to replace.

They opened the water reservoir cap and said oil had seeped into the cooling system, meaning the engine was beyond repair. The scammers claimed the car was worthless and pestered Mr Cross to agree to let them have the car towed away for free.

Suspicious, he said he wanted the AA to inspect the car - but the men refused to leave, repeatedly arguing and browbeating him. They pestered him for 90 minutes until he felt he had no choice but to empty his wallet of £200 cash to make them go away.

“I didn’t feel something was quite right,” said Mr Cross. “I was under pressure, I was beginning to feel really tired and it was clear that their argument was quite pressing. With the smoke, the oil everywhere, they’d managed to convince me that the engine had blown up.

“It was just the persistence and the argument that the car was valueless. It became almost a battle of wits. I thought the best thing I could do was just pay them off, give them some cash and ask them to leave.”

The silver Mercedes-Benz E-Class Coupe Sport has covered just 38,000 miles and had recently been serviced with a clean bill of health. The following day, a technician checked the car and confirmed there was nothing wrong with the engine. He said it was otherwise in good condition and warned the black oil scam was becoming increasingly common.

The car was cleaned of the spilt oil, but the sprayed oil damaged Mr Cross’ driveway and builders have estimated that it will cost £4,500 to replace. Similar incidents have been reported elsewhere in the country, including Gloucestershire last September, and motoring experts say the scam has been around for some time.

An AA spokesperson said: “Our advice would be to sell your vehicle through a trusted buyer. Otherwise, we would advise sellers to remain vigilant during the transaction and to have a friend or relative present throughout the process.

“One way of reducing the chances of the oil trick happening to you is to show the buyer that the oil and coolant levels are fine at the start of your vehicle tour. The AA also advises only allowing a test drive if the buyer can provide proof of insurance, accompanying them during the drive, and recording the contact details and registration of anyone viewing the car.

Any suspicion of foul play should be reported to the police.