Boat Sale Scam

[Marshian]

Hi

I just posted an 'intro' in the New to Boating forum, 'cos I'm looking for a n/b at the moment. I included my intention to post about a scam I came across whilst looking at sale ads on Boatsandoutboards. Apols if this is already known, but here's what I found: I saw a boat advertised at a stupid cheap price, but assumed it was a typo and asked for more details. I got a reply to the effect that they were too far away to show me the boat, so I could have it for the advertised price via Ebay and Paypal. Yeah, right!

 

When I replied to say that I would travel to see the boat, I got a reply (in bad English) giving all the reasons why I couldn't - the boat had been sent to Shiply to prepare for delivery (they're an online load clearance house, and have no storage facilities). Shiply are Ebay's official delivery partner (of course they're not). Ebay/Paypal would hold my payment until I confirmed satisfactory delivery and condition (again, of course they don't, they just pass money received straight to the seller).

 

There's more, but I won't bore you. The Boatsandoutboards site has a link to the Practical Boating forum. I searched it for 'scam', and found warnings about a near identical one being run last year for fishing boats. I'd hope that anyone can see how transparent this scam is, but if it's running again, there might be gullible people out there with more enthusiasm than sense?

 

The ad has been taken down now, but I expect another 'bargain' will be offered before too long. Brings to mind the old adage 'if it looks too good to be true, it isn't true'. In the unlikely event you come across anyone falling for this, please put them straight.

 

Cheers,

 

Chris

[junior]

It is so common it is almost not a scam anymore. If you did a Google search for the words "Canal World Forum boat scam" i bet you'd get a page of results full of threads on this forum exactly the same as yours ambut 3 months apart for about the last 2 years.

[Paul C]

If someone is foolish enough to hand over a significant amount of money for a boat they've never seen, located (apparently - of course there is no boat....) in an area with no inland waterways, they deserve to lose their money!!!!!

[AMModels]

well, no they dont really do they? Does anyone 'deserve' it?

[Wanted]

If someone is foolish enough to hand over a significant amount of money for a boat they've never seen, located (apparently - of course there is no boat....) in an area with no inland waterways, they deserve to lose their money!!!!!

How pleasant

[johnmck]

If someone is foolish enough to hand over a significant amount of money for a boat they've never seen, located (apparently - of course there is no boat....) in an area with no inland waterways, they deserve to lose their money!!!!!

A tad harsh old chap. Does the same apply to anyone scammed then?

[Southern Star]

If someone is foolish enough to hand over a significant amount of money for a boat they've never seen, located (apparently - of course there is no boat....) in an area with no inland waterways, they deserve to lose their money!!!!!

Can't quite agree with this. The victim may be gullible but even gullible people do not "deserve" to be targeted by criminals.

[Marshian]

Junior, I apologised in advance if it was already known. I've looked at n/b sale ads as a 'wannabe' for longer than I care to remember, and it was new to me. I concur with those who don't agree that losing £000s is the 'deserved' price for foolishness. We can all get carried away by enthusiasm - I know I can. I think that those who are being incautious, and putting their hard-earned £000s at risk, should be given every opportunity to regain contact with reality. So the more warnings, the better.

 

Cheers,

 

Chris

[Paul C]

Yeah of course its harsh but people need to be aware of what they're getting into. Remember, we're not talking about an especially cheap boat because its in poor condition, its a project, or its too small or an undesirable model. Its cheap because it doesn't exist. The potential buyer is trading risk vs reduction in price over what it should be. The more ridiculous the situation, the more the price needs to be reduced to get people to take that risk and hand over cash BEFORE EVEN LOOKING AT THE BOAT. Basically, they're gambling, and they KNOW they're gambling.

 

Do people buy lotto tickets and when they don't win, ask for their money back?

[Southern Star]

 

 

Do people buy lotto tickets and when they don't win, ask for their money back?

Not really relevant. If I buy a lottery ticket, I know full well that the likely probability is that I won't win,but I have still purchased something of value, a chance of winning. In these narrowboat scams, nothing of value ever exists in the first place.

[Paul C]

Not really relevant. If I buy a lottery ticket, I know full well that the likely probability is that I won't win,but I have still purchased something of value, a chance of winning. In these narrowboat scams, nothing of value ever exists in the first place.

 

What's the face value of a lottery ticket?

[angelasoldman]

If someone is foolish enough to hand over a significant amount of money for a boat they've never seen, located (apparently - of course there is no boat....) in an area with no inland waterways, they deserve to lose their money ex!!!!!

Is it your Scam?

[Paul C]

Things are bought unseen all the time - usually low value items. Occasionally.....very rarely....boats are legitimately bought unseen, the boat exists and the transaction is successful. The buyer is hoping its one of those kinds of transaction. If I were selling a boat I'd be aware of this, and that discouraging the viewing of a boat would raise suspicions and lower the likely completion of a sale so I'd be encouraging the buyer to. But I guess some sellers are busy/lazy/legitimately unable to accommodate viewings etc etc.

Is it your Scam?

 

Nope!

[Southern Star]

 

What's the face value of a lottery ticket?

The purchase price of a National Lottery ticket is £2. However, it is a lottery, and the operator makes information freely available about the odds of winning, and so a punter can make a reasonable decision as to whether to play. I play, by standing order, and I know that on average, the returns do not equal the purchase price, but I don't consider that this means I am being "ripped off", as I would be if I paid money for a non-existent boat.

[Paul C]

The purchase price of a National Lottery ticket is £2. However, it is a lottery, and the operator makes information freely available about the odds of winning, and so a punter can make a reasonable decision as to whether to play. I play, by standing order, and I know that on average, the returns do not equal the purchase price, but I don't consider that this means I am being "ripped off", as I would be if I paid money for a non-existent boat.

 

OK no worries, its an imperfect analogy.

[Athy]

How pleasant

...but with a strong element of truth, don't you think? The old adage "A fool and his money are soon parted" applies.

Marshian, let me guess: it's a lady in Scotland?

[Marshian]

Hi Athy

Apparently she's in Truro this time - Matilda Kelly Bryant (again!). Fewer canals than Scotland!

 

...but with a strong element of truth, don't you think? The old adage "A fool and his money are soon parted" applies.

Marshian, let me guess: it's a lady in Scotland?

[Southern Star]

 

Apparently she's in Truro this time - Matilda Kelly Bryant (again!). Fewer canals than Scotland!

 

I think that "she" (in reality the likelihood is that it is almost certainly a male operating from a Nigerian internet cafe) has done enough research to know where there are and are not canals in the UK and deliberately suggests that the boats are in places where there are not canals, presumably to reduce the possibility of it being viewed.

[BilgePump]

Sadly there are a boatload of scams out there. We put ours on the market for a while and it was an eye opener. Pictures lifted, cloned ad at cut price. Had a sinister message from someone in the 'process' of 'buying'. I've bought a couple of £500 boats blind off eBay no problem but even at that level it was only cash on meeting at the yard. The litmus test is to speak to the neighbouring moorers. If the guy has 'lost' the keys and nobody knows him from Adam then probably time to walk.

Edited September 20, 2015 by BilgePump

[Marshian]

Unfortunately, if this scam keeps coming up on boating forums, it keeps being used. Kinda implies that it works, or has done, otherwise the scammer would move on to their next scam. With newbies (me included) registering on boating forums most days, there's a lot of uninformed boat buyers around. I don't accept that it's ok to allow the more naive/gullible amongst them to be thrown to the lions, 'cos it's their own fault for being naive/gullible. So I reiterate, the more warnings, the better.

[Arthur Marshall]

Scams are like spam - cheap to run and you only have to score once to be in profit. Are there really any people out there on the net who haven't been warned? They get scammed because,usually,of their own greed for thinking they are the ones doing the ripping off - a con that goes back to the dark ages!

[MtB]

If someone is foolish enough to hand over a significant amount of money for a boat they've never seen, located (apparently - of course there is no boat....) in an area with no inland waterways, they deserve to lose their money!!!!!

 

 

I can't help but think this is a bit harsh. But only a bit. Not everyone can be saved from their own stupidity.

 

'They only have themselves to blame' is a bit fairer IMV. Anyone shelling out hard cash without getting possession of their 'purchase' is likely to get an education in life.

 

As someone wise once said, "When someone with money meets someone with experience, the guy wih experience usually ends up with the money, and the guy with the money ends ups with some......"

[Phil Ambrose]

Sadly scammers now abound, I took a call a couple of weeks ago from a guy speaking very poor broken English, apparently my computer was "Broken" and he was calling from Microsoft to "Fix" it.

I rang off and put the number on my block list, since then I have been getting 2 calls a day. I'm on the TPS register so passed the details on to them, they said scam calls were not in their remit and said to contact Trading Standards who in turn said "No not, us contact Citizens Advice", CA did take up the issue by involving Trading Standards who have now said they are getting involved.

Having been passed around I will not be holding my breath.

Phil

[larkshall]

I hope as a matter of course we report these attempts to the police. I'm afraid human nature being what it is we don't. I know it's basically data logging, but. We should do it, if nothing else it's intelligence. I'm just as guilty though, thank my lucky stars and move on.

[Arthur Marshall]

I'm on the TPS register

 

Phil

If I remember rightly, tps can't do anything about calls from abroad and the MS scams come from India. Best just keep them on the line.