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Monday, June 14, 2004
Beware boat sales scam
UK is now at the forefront for scams, which have run the course around the rest of the world.
Private sellers of boats for sale, beware you may receive from a potential buyer what seems to be a genuine offer to buy your boat.
The email includes something like the following:
You are selling an item over the Internet - it could be a boat for sale. You receive an email offer to purchase your item and the buyer says he'll send a bank Cashiers check. The buyer is from Nigeria or "West Africa", but has a business associate in the United Kingdom who will send you the cashier's check. Then you are told that for some reason the check was already made out to you for an amount larger than your asking price. The buyer asks you to please deposit the check, wait for it to clear, and then send him the difference -- "but only after the cashier's check clears, of course."
You are skeptical - but, sure enough, the bank cashier's check arrives by Fed Ex, it looks real, your bank accepts the check, and the bank assures you the funds are in fact available. So you wait the time the bank recommends to verify, that the check is clear and then you wire the difference to your buyer in Nigeria and prepare to ship your item.
A week later your bank calls: "We're very sorry, but the cashier's check was counterfeit" -- a superb copy, but worthless. Your account is frozen. You must pay the bank back the entire amount of the cashier's check. You may even be considered a fraud suspect yourself.
Your "buyer" disappears. About the only good news: sellers rarely get to the point of shipping their items abroad.
Protect Yourself
If you are selling online, be extremely skeptical of any offers
? from overseas to a party you do not know
? paid by cashier's check
? from buyers sending more than the purchase price of the item
? from buyers who seem more worried about payment than the shipment of the item to them once payment is made
? from buyers who show little or no concern to the condition of the item they are purchasing
Also, a bank may make money "available" to you almost at once if you deposit a purported bank cashier's check, but that's NOT a guarantee the check is authentic. It could be returned as counterfeit up to three years later, and the bank will hold you responsible for the money.
Because contact details are published on most boat for sale adverts, you may also receive a phone call with similar content to the above and how convincing they are over the phone, especially when you are eager for a sale.
Also just emerging is a postal letter which describes the above, so beware especially when you are eager for a sale.
This information has been reported from clients using www.boatstogo.co.uk and www.allboats.co.uk web site.
We are aware of other similar boat sale services on the Internet receiving these same scams.
The police and authorities are aware of this problem and assure us they are doing everything possible to catch and clamp down on these people.
Unfortunately, these people reside outside the UK, therefore it is very difficult to track and get the help of outside authorities to prosecute them.
NEVER EVER give money out or bank details to anyone, they are buying from you so the only thing you should handle is their cash.
Janet
www.boatstogo.co.uk
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