Too good to be true?

gpfishingdude

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
May 1, 2012
Messages
538
My wife and I have looked at a lot of used boat ads lately. Before I bought the 16' Starcraft off of Craigs list a month ago we saw an ad for a Ranger bass boat and it looked too good to be true. Now she finds an ad for a Bass Buggy that was too good to be true also. In these ads the boat is listed from one location but when you contact the seller they will tell you that it is located in another state for some reason. Somewhere quite distant from where you are located. The seller says they are too busy to handle the transaction themselves and that it will be handled through Ebay. Sometimes they say that the boat is at an ebay yard of some sort. I just thought that you should know that ebay has never heard of these people and although they say they will ship the boat to you and you will have time to examine it before they get their money from ebay THIS IS A SCAM. These people will not give you the HIN number for the boat. They act like they are too busy to handle the transaction themselves but they have plenty of time to keep emailing you with their story. I thought I would warn people that this scam is going on. We were lucky enough to ask for a HIN # and call ebay to verify that these were not legit.
 

Celtichawk

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
May 6, 2012
Messages
564
Re: Too good to be true?

On another note to your discovery, same thing applies to a lot of different types of postings and not just for boats. I have seen this with ATV's as well. Wife claimed that her husband died in Iraq and too busy to make a appearance to buy the ATV's. Also them being Utility models and around 2010 years of a 4x4 type she wanted $3000 for both. Obviously knowing a lot about ATV's I knew ad was too good to be true. I went ahead e-mailed her to see and that is what she claimed. Amongst other things but I was disturbed by her response after reading the first line which stated that as well as myself being active duty and how someone could scam that as a excuse. People don't care though they do anything to scam others who are suckers.

Oh and not only did he die in Iraq but her and her daughter were going through trouble times, and she was too busy at work to meet in person. Not to mention that the ATV's were her husbands so she had to get rid of them because it reminded her of him. Yea right!
 

MH Hawker

Vice Admiral
Joined
Jul 13, 2011
Messages
5,516
Re: Too good to be true?

When I was selling a outboard last year I ran into a guy who was to busy to drop by and look at the motor who clamed to be local, I am in WV. but he has a cell phone regestered in VA and wanted it shipped to a address thats a chinese resturant in nyc and a check was sent from Cal. I turned it over to the FBI.
 

5150abf

Vice Admiral
Joined
Aug 12, 2007
Messages
5,808
Re: Too good to be true?

People will do anything to anyone to make a buck, this story applies to anything people buy, a guy at work had the exact experiance when selling a motorcylce, he was telling me about this guy that would pay him way more than he was asking and his partner would send a check becuase he was to busy........ my BS detector went off and I told him to stop answering emails.

Know what you are buying and from who and inspect it yourself ro don't cry when they get your dollars.
 

choppywaters

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Apr 27, 2012
Messages
127
Re: Too good to be true?

We looked at a couple boats on either boat trader or something like that and there was a 94 sea ray 21ft overnighter and same thing, the guy said he wasn't there because he worked on an oil rig and couldn't be there. The boat was in NC and I told him I was willing to make the 14hr trip. Then his next email said it was in a secured boat lot in FL. I then said let me know where that is and I can have my Sister take a look at it....I never heard back from him lol. He was asking 3k with a new trailer and the boat had less than 200hrs on it.
 

etracer68

Ensign
Joined
Oct 11, 2009
Messages
906
Re: Too good to be true?

I have seen those ads on CL too, and noticed that there were no REG numbers on the boats. 99.5% of the time, when its to good to be true, its not.
 

90stingray

Lieutenant Junior Grade
Joined
Oct 26, 2010
Messages
1,162
Re: Too good to be true?

Dont even take the time to email these jokers... they will take your email and use it for phishing. Just flag and move on. If you list something on craigslist, hide your email and spell out some of your phone number... usually helps eliminate bs contacts by scammers.
 

Home Cookin'

Fleet Admiral
Joined
May 26, 2009
Messages
9,715
Re: Too good to be true?

also, when selling, never take a cashier's check for more than the amount and send the guy "the change." (A $10,000 check for a $8,500 boat). He'll get the boat and $1,500 cash; you get stuck with a fake check, no boat, $1,500 lighter AND you owe your bank $10,000.

Unlike credit cards with a $50 rip-off max, you warrant (basically, guaranty) to the bank that the cashiers check is good.
 

gpfishingdude

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
May 1, 2012
Messages
538
Re: Too good to be true?

Dont even take the time to email these jokers... they will take your email and use it for phishing. Just flag and move on. If you list something on craigslist, hide your email and spell out some of your phone number... usually helps eliminate bs contacts by scammers.
I was kind of worried about that too, if they could be using some of our information in some way. Have you seen the article where the Governor of TN. warns people about stolen boats becoming a big business-- a lot of good information there. He said if you store your boat in your yard to lock your motor to the boat, the boat to the trailer and the trailer to a tree. Several years ago some guys hooked up to a boat in a driveway in Indiana, the son saw them and told dad, and the owner and his son who was driving had a shoot out with the thief that was riding in the boat as they chased it down the road. The thief driving and the thief in the boat were cousins to each other. I thought that was one of the wildest things I had seen in the news at that time. I remember better now- thief they were shooting it out with was in the back of the pickup ahead of them- not riding in the boat. Sometimes it takes a while to get all of the fog out of the old noggin.
 
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