beware dodgy adverts

[davet45]

I sold my boat, RASA SAYANG about a month ago, using a broker.

 

The broker has just received a phone call to tell her that my (old) boat was on the 'boatsandoutboards' website for less than £6,000. This was a fraction of the price I sold her for.

 

The advert contained the photos and details that were in the brokers original adverts. They had clearly been lifted from these ads.

 

The broker has contacted the 'boatsandouboards' website, who have removed the ad.

 

Please be careful if you see an advert for a boat that looks like it has a silly price-tag.

 

Remember, if it looks too good to be true, it probably is.

 

 

[Guest]

I sold my boat, RASA SAYANG about a month ago, using a broker.

 

The broker has just received a phone call to tell her that my (old) boat was on the 'boatsandoutboards' website for less than £6,000. This was a fraction of the price I sold her for.

 

The advert contained the photos and details that were in the brokers original adverts. They had clearly been lifted from these ads.

 

The broker has contacted the 'boatsandouboards' website, who have removed the ad.

 

Please be careful if you see an advert for a boat that looks like it has a silly price-tag.

 

Remember, if it looks too good to be true, it probably is.

 

 

 

it's a commonly used scam, you sometimes see it on eBay too.

 

Thanks for the heads up.

[Dave Payne]

I dont get the scam?

 

Its not like they can post the boat, or you would pay without seing it!?

[Guest]

I dont get the scam?

 

Its not like they can post the boat, or you would pay without seing it!?

 

One way it works is they hope to sell it as seen without a visit and at the very least take a deposit via. a hacked paypal account rather than the whole sum.

 

10% say of six grand is a lot of money for a few minutes work copying and pasting an ad. sat in your bedroom in Nigeria....

 

Plus they may try to get you to use a much less secure money transfer method.

Edited October 8, 2013 by The Dog House

[Dave Payne]

Ahh i see...

 

A good website if you want a read, how to get payback on the scammers from Africa!

 

www.149eater.com

[Weyland Yutani]

Ahh i see...

 

A good website if you want a read, how to get payback on the scammers from Africa!

 

http://www.419eater.com/

 

Fixed that for you

[Dave Payne]

 

Fixed that for you

 

 

My fingers move faster than my brain

[Phil Ambrose]

I reported this scam over 3 years ago, short version, someone lifted my complete ad inc photos from The Duck and placed it on Gumtree and someone gave me a heads up.

 

Phil

[Southern Star]

 

Fixed that for you

I've been a member of 419eater for many years and have had some wonderful photos emailed to me from Nigerians adopting ridiculous poses, believing they are just one more step away from being emailed the money.

 

This wasn't one of mine, but is typical of the sort of thing 419 scambaiters get people to do, in order to "prove they are a real person". "Yes, I'll send you the money via Western Union this afternoon but you just need to prove you are who you say you are by putting a fish on your head and a loaf of bread under your nose, and then sending me a photo"

 

Please note that there is nothing racist about it, baiters simply respond to unsolicited emails, pretending to go along with the story, however the fact is that 99% of these scams originate in sub-Saharan Africa.

 

[Richard10002]

There are lots of ads on Autotrader with cars at much less than similar cars. They all seem to ask for communication by email only, and are obviously scams.... But I guess some fall for them even in this day and age.

 

I actually find it quite disheartening that Autotrader, and the like, actually allow such obvious fake adverts.

[David Mack]

I dont get the scam?

 

Its not like they can post the boat, or you would pay without seing it!?

A couple of years ago I posted about a similar scam. A National engine was advertised at an attractive price on Gumtree in London, but was apparently located in Scotland. A friend of mine responded to the ad but the 'vendor' failed to respond when he asked to view it. So I enquired and offered to pay cash on collection. The vendor responded asking me to pay the money to an HSBC account in Luton, and gave details of the address where it could be collected (so I could organise a courier). A quick check on Google Streetview showed that there wasn't an address with the number given on the named street!

 

Googling the contact details led me to a posting on an audio forum from a very unhappy Dutchman who had paid several hundred pounds for a valve amplifier in similar circumstances, and then been unable to contact the vendor. And the bank were unable to help, the account having been closed shortly after the money was paid in.

[blackrose]

When I was in Kaliningrad a few years ago the hotel manager asked me if I could do him a favour. A booking for 10 rooms had been made by Mrs Becky White in London and the manager was concerned that it was a scam in which the booking would be cancelled after the card payment had gone through and then the refund would be requested by different method. I'm not exactly sure how it worked but the manager had seen it before and wanted someone who could distinguish an English accent to call Becky White. Anyway I went into the office and called the number in London and sure enough an African male voice answered the phone. I asked to speak to Becky White and was told she wasn't there. When I asked when she would be back the bloke hung up the phone. That was good enough for the hotel manager who laughed and said "Haha, Becky White, I am not black, I am white!" I'm afraid I had to laugh too at his overt racism. Hey, that's Russia.

Edited October 8, 2013 by blackrose

[Southern Star]

Well, that's not really racism. If nearly all of these scams are operated by people with black skins then they can hardly complain if people with white skins notice it. The whole reason they are called "419 scams" is because they are illegal under Section 419 of the Nigerian Penal Code,.