Boat Scam... and how it works.

[KermieB]

I was looking through Craig's list as I do often and ran across a boat that seemed just too good to be true.. sure enough, it's a scam. If you are a reasonably knowledgeable boater, you can spot a ton of irregularities. This guy did actually go to a little trouble to make it look good, but it's still full of holes.

Again, the good ole rule of thumb.. "If it's too good to be true...."

The Craig's list ad linked to this site: http://2006-sea-ray-185-sport.web.officelive.com/default.aspx

He's only asking $2,800 for this boat.

If you respond to the ad with an email, you get this reply:
This 2006 Sea Ray 185 Sport Bow Rider has been very well maintained since it was new, trailer also in great condition. I am the second owner of the boat, good condition nothing wrong with it, the hull is in excellent condition with no dents or holes. Due to my upcoming deployment, I've reduced the price to $2850 to avoid wasting time with negotiations. The trailer will come along with the boat and is included in sale price.

If you want to conclude this purchase with me in a timely manner, the financial part will be managed by the eBay's Buyer Protection Program, they basically provide a secure and managed environment between buyer and seller. If you're really interested to move forward just e-mail me back with your; Full Name and Shipping Address and eBay will contact you to explain the purchasing procedure.

For more photos and a complete description of this boat. Please click on the link below or copy and paste it into your browser window.
http://2006-sea-ray-185-sport.web.officelive.com

Hope to hear from you soon,
Arthur Wimmer

I responded with a bogus name and address to see what's next, and got this response:

I am glad we can move on and I have already forwarded your information to eBay Safety Department, they will contact you with the terms of payment, to clarify how the entire transaction will be done. So just e-mail me and tell me if you received the payment invoice and how long will take till you proceed with the payment as eBay instructed you.

The shipping process will done by a military carier with full support from our logistics department. To ensure total protection and peace of mind, the package will be delivered to nearest military airport in your area and then it will be trucked forward to your home address. It will take around 2 -4 days until the boat will be delivered to your home address. All the documents you need for ownership; title, manuals and the bill of sale, etc.. will be provided along with the boat & trailer.

You won't be disappointed!!!

PS: Please don't forget to email me back with your phone number(Home,Mobile,Office), Info. required by the shipping company (They will call you with delivery/pickup instructions 1 day ahead so you can communicate what time schedule work best for your to receive the package.)

Sure enough, about an hour later, I got a very realistic looking invoice from what looked like Ebay, but of course .... was not. If there weren't enough holes in their story, they ask you to use Western Union to send payment and then fax them a copy of the receipt.

I did a reverse directory look up of the fax number and found out it was in Seattle, WA, and I figure if I can find that, the FBI can find the rest. I forwarded all of the information to the IC3 (Internet Crime Center), and I hope they can stop this guy quickly.

 

[nuboat2me]

Re: Boat Scam... and how it works.

Yeah...

I had one of those interactions as well. The Wetern Union thing is the dead give away...

Its sad that people think they can get away with that sort of stuff. Even sadder... Some do get HAD with no real recourse...

I buy what I can Touch, feel, hear and see... I use all me senses... Even my spidy senses.. Not pictures with a sad story...

Reminds me of the *****es that took advantage of the Katrina victims...

Take care and happy boating!!!

 

[seabob4]

Re: Boat Scam... and how it works.

What I want, and with a good enough search, will be close at hand...where I CAN put my hand on the goods...

 

[tlzimmerman]

Re: Boat Scam... and how it works.

Yeah there are tons of scams like these out there.

I think just as many people get scammed while selling as while buying. Alot of people contact you to purchase something, they are out of state and send you a check for the item with an extra couple hundred or thousand dollars to ship the item to them. They want you to cash the check, send the money to the shipping company, and then they will come pick it up. Of course 2 days after you cash it the check bounces, you have sent off the money, and there is nothing you can do about it.

Our company runs a free classifieds much like craigslist for our area....I am truly amazed at how many people get taken.

My advice is always look the man/woman you a buying from or selling to in the eye, and shake his hand before and after a sale.

 

[jrampey]

Re: Boat Scam... and how it works.

I had a similar experience last summer... I knew it looked too good to be true. I corresponded with the seller and got the same offer - through Ebay protection program. I declined and told the seller I would only do business face to face - I'd bring cash and after a test ride and verifying all of the paperwork we would finish the deal. I was willing to travel 500 miles! After that e-mail everything went silent!

 

[oceansbreeze]

Re: Boat Scam... and how it works.

Ditto, seen this so many times, I often spot the obvious ones and just flag them as fraudulent on CL or kijiji and they get removed pretty quickly...

I've been told the boat is in "London, England" or Alaska and waiting for shipment.... and I always reply with "oh, yeah, I have a relative who lives about 10 minutes away, and he said he'd go check it out" and the correspondences usually die immediately...

 

[mattb1974]

Re: Boat Scam... and how it works.

They are also after your e-mail address. When you respond to a c-list ad, you are giving them a "live" e-mail address that they can sell.

 

[DaNinja]

Re: Boat Scam... and how it works.

"Delivered by military carier with full support from our logistics department..."
Even if spelled correctly, that's laughable.

 

[dirtdiver]

Re: Boat Scam... and how it works.

Man I wish the army would ship stuff for me. I could make a killing.

 

[cr2k]

Re: Boat Scam... and how it works.

Unfortunitaly the Western Union usually links to an Off Shore account. When this is the case the FBI don't give a rats butt cuz they can't track it and it is out of the USA and not their jurisdiction. I went through this with a car scam we found.

 

[Doug N.]

Re: Boat Scam... and how it works.

I haven't responded to one of these, but i wonder what would happen if you said in your reply: "This is right in my price range because my FBI pension isn't much"?

 

[Droopy]

Re: Boat Scam... and how it works.

LOL... Being in the Air Force, even if they would ship stuff through the nearest "military airport", I don't think you'd enjoy seeing the condition the boat would be in coming out the far side of it's trip... I know my household goods looked more, well, used...

John

 

[KermieB]

Re: Boat Scam... and how it works.

I haven't responded to one of these, but i wonder what would happen if you said in your reply: "This is right in my price range because my FBI pension isn't much"?

Actually, the first time I responded to one of these, I think it was in Michigan, I sent my phone number but it was actually the phone number of the local FBI office ... but they don't operate that way. I think a lot of these are phished from out of the country and they don't want you to hear an accent. You get a stat email. Same thing every time.


You know why these things work?? Because so many of us Americans want something for nothing. We want to be the guy that got "that unbelievable deal."

 

[Sparkinator]

Re: Boat Scam... and how it works.

Great job on turning this info over to the FBI. Who knows, maybe they can get somebody, or slow them down for a little while.

My great aunt and uncle were really old and childless. They were loaded from a lifetime of hardwork and also had a big settlement from a very bad traffic accident. They didn't have any children, so they didn't have anyone that was around and looking out for them financially. She was a retired secretary and he was a retired electrical engineer, so they were fairly intelligent, but as they got older and more vulnerable, they were scammed out of all their money. It was really sad. My uncle passed away, and my aunt lost their house. She had to move to a gov't assisted nursing home to spend her last days.

We see how laughable these scams are, but older people don't always see it.

Anyway, I'm off my soapbox, but these kinds of people just chap my butt.

 

[RickJ6956]

Re: Boat Scam... and how it works.

One of the investigative TV programs (Dateline?) did a story on this type of scam. People in the USA -- in this case, Seattle -- are being used by the same offshore scammers, and they are also being scammed into thinking they're in a money-making scheme.

 

[Philster]

Re: Boat Scam... and how it works.

As long as we have a good supply of dumb people in the world, scams will continue on.

Ergo, there is no end in sight.

 

[JimKW]

Re: Boat Scam... and how it works.

Bascally once you see it's a good deal because I'm being deployed, consider it a scam. Seen it too many times on cars for sale.

 

[83Evinrude]

Re: Boat Scam... and how it works.

I wonder how he gets those palm trees to grow in Seattle? Oh wait the boat is probably at his mothers in Florida and he's being deployed from Seattle, yup nothing fishy about this deal.

 

[TMoNeE]

Re: Boat Scam... and how it works.

i see them all the time, i just flag them

 

[oops!]

Re: Boat Scam... and how it works.

i was ready to bite on this one....

was looking for boats on the vegas area....(im in canada) and i saw a simmelar add and a simmelar boat.

e-mailed him and told him i wanted to know if he had clear title as i was driving it back to canada.
no answer.

sent him another one from a second e-mail addy and he answered right away.
saying about the e-bay buyers protection plan.
i clicked his link.....(nowhere in the link did it say ebay) and saw a mock of an ebay page....(looked good). so i copied the item number....went to the e-bay site....entered the number ....and zip....nuthin...nada.

this jerk got me all hyped up on a deal....i was ready to drive to vegas and told the gf to be ready to leave in an instants notice if he got back to me with the boat details.