Introduction
Whether you are selling your boat via advertising in
magazines or on the internet, there are people out there
that will stop at nothing to try to con you. As long as
you are aware of their methods, you can make sure that
you don’t fall prey to their game.
The Advance Fee Fraud
Also known as the "Overpayment Scam" or
"Advance Payment Scam".
Here's how it works...
The fraudster will inform you that they are interested
in purchasing your boat. He will send a cashier’s cheque,
banker's draft or business cheque for considerably more
than the agreed sale price of the boat, and will ask you
to send the difference back. He will give some excuse
for sending too much money, such as blaming the error on
his accountant.
Obviously, you would wait for the cheque to clear
before you sent back the difference. However, the
cheques are usually forged or stolen so your bank will
honour the cheque, and it may be weeks, sometimes months
before the forgery or theft is discovered. You will then
be liable for paying back the value of the cheque. And,
if the boat has already been shipped to the con-artist,
you lose out twice.
Unfortunately, if you have been a victim of this type
of fraud, there is little you can do to get your money
or your boat back. Usually, the con-man will be outside
of your country, where your police have no jurisdiction.
Nigeria seems to be the biggest source of this type
of deception, and this, along with other types of fraud
are thought to be one of the largest industries in
Nigeria. Therefore any messages originating from Nigeria
should be treated with the utmost of caution. Below is a
list of countries that have a high incidence of this
kind of fraud. However, you should be aware that the
scammer may not tell the truth about their location and
may even disguise the IP address of their computer so
that the originating country cannot be determined.
High risk scam countries
- Nigeria
- Russia
- Israel
- Côte D'Ivoire and many other African countries
Here are a few pointers to help ensure you don't get
scammed:
- If the buyer sends you more money than you have
agreed on, it could very well be a scam. Do not
proceed with the sale until you have the correct
funds in your bank account or with escrow
agent.
- Do not send any money back to the buyer except
under terms of contract.
- Request Bank Transfers of Funds. Remember
the cheque you receive may not be legitimate. .
- Get as much contact information from the buyer
as possible, including an address. A PO Box address
is not good enough. Be very suspicious of anyone who
is unwilling or delays in providing this
information. Contact them by telephone, e-mail, post
and await a reply to make sure the contact details
are real.
- Be extra cautious if the buyer is outside of
your own country.
- If the person mentions the purchase of the wrong
item e.g. a car instead of a boat, it is probably a
scam; many of these scammers have many scams on the
go in different market areas and often get them
mixed up.
- Think about enlisting the services of an escrow
agent.
- Insist on down payment(10%) prior to Sea trial
or Survey
- Trust your gut instincts; if something seems too
good to be true, or just seems wrong, it probably
is.
Boats-Yacht.net
provides this guide for informational purposes only and
cannot accept responsibility for losses arising from its
use.