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Any time you buy or sell a boat or other
item online, it is important to realize that the distance and anonymity
of online contact put you at risk for fraud more than buying and selling
face to face; distance and anonymity can make it easier for con-artists
to attempt to scam honest people. The Internet is a truely wonderful
tool to connect honest buyers and sellers, but you must always use common
sense and not take anyone's identity or intentions for granted. While
most people on the Internet are honest, just like in life, there are
people both nearby and many from poor or lawless areas of the globe
that are constantly looking for someone to take advantage of. The following
are guidelines that should always be followed:
Tips for Avoiding Scams, as a Buyer:
- Discuss details of the boat by phone in addition to
email or online so you speak with the person selling the boat.
- Get a landline number for the seller and verify that
the phone number given matches the physical location of the boat listed.
- Ask for the boat's exact location and HIN number (Hull
Identification Number) and do a quick web search on the boat's name,
part of the boat's description, and/or HIN number
- Be more cautious of sellers using free email accounts
as these can be used by overseas scam-artists and then discarded as
they are reportedl; Notice poor grammar, lack of knowledge of local
geography, incorrect location names, made-up or incorrectly formatted
names, and numerically- or otherwise-generated throw-away email addresses
as easy but usually correct indications of a scam attempt.
- Use extreme caution when buying a boat located a long
distance from your location. Since this website is available to people
around the world, we allow boats to be listed from around the world.
However, buying a boat that is located a great distance from you increases
the risk to you exponentially. Is it never a good idea to
buy a boat without viewing it in person before any money changes hands.
Only consider ads for boats that you can view in person. Avoid internet
scams involving overseas boats or overseas sellers by only considering
boats that you can survey and view in person.
- After discussing the details, have the boat surveyed
before any money changes hands. View the boat in person, or at the
very least, have a trusted friend view the boat on your behalf.
- sailboatlistings.com does not function as a broker
or seller nor are we involved in any communication or transaction
between buyer and seller. See
Terms of Use / Access Agreement
- Please always use good judgment and due diligence
when considering the purchase of a boat; it is the buyer's duty to
inspect a boat prior to purchase or to have it surveyed or to have
a broker act on their behalf.
- Never wire funds via western union, moneygram or any
other wire service.
- Avoid scams where a seller wants you to pay or overpay
any third party where part of the payment will then be rebated to
the seller - this would almost always represent a scam.
- Never give out personal financial information (bank
account number, social security number, ebay/paypal info, etc.)
Tips for Avoiding Scams, as a Seller:
- Fake cashier checks & money orders are common.
Unfortunately banks will cash them and then hold you responsible a
week or more after the fact when the fake cashier's check or money
order is discovered to be fraudulent.
- Requests to overpay for the boat and have excess money
returned or given to a shipping company are almost always fraudulent
-- never do this without consulting with your bank first.
99.9% of such requests represent an attempt at fraud; the scam is
that the "buyer" sends you a fraudulent cashier's check,
check, or money order, gets you to pay a part of it to either them
or a third party which gives them the money, and then when the larger
payment is discovered to be fraudulent and reversed by the bank, you
are left out the money that was returned or given to the third party.
- Please always use caution and your best judgment if
presented with a deal which doesn't seem logical, and be sure to talk
with your bank to be sure all checks and transactions have been completed,
cleared, and verified before releasing any property.
- Be especially careful of any transactions from overseas
where such transactions might be reversed after some time due to fraud.
- Notice poor grammar, lack of knowledge of local geography,
incorrect location names, made-up or incorrectly formatted names,
and numerically- or otherwise-generated throw-away email addresses
as easy but usually correct indications of a scam attempt.
- Be very careful of buyers or sellers using free email
addresses (hotmail, yahoo, etc.)
- Look at the IP address included with the contact form,
or the headers of the email, and use the www.arin.net
whois to get a location of that IP address and see if it matches up
with where the buyer says he is located (e.g. an IP that is assigned
to Africa with a buyer that say's he is in Florida is a clear indication
of a fraud attempt; likewise an IP address that is an open proxy most
often indicates someone attempting a fraudulent communication)
- Contact the buyer or seller by (non-cell) landline
phone as well as online to help confirm their identity.
- Always be sure payment is legitimate and that it has
fully cleared and is non-fraudulent before releasing any property.
- sailboatlistings.com does not function as a broker
nor are we involved in any communication or transaction between buyer
and seller. See
Terms of Use / Access Agreement
If you believe an ad is fraudulent
- If you see an ad on sailboatlistings.com that you
believe is fraudulent, please
contact us and give us the URL of the ad you believe is fraudulent
so that we can remove it.
- If you have a boat listed and receive an email that
you believe is an attempt at fraud, please
contact us and also forward the full message(s) including headers
and the IP of the sender so that we may block this person from further
accessing our site.
Suggestions
If you have any suggestions for tips that should be added
to this page to help other buyes and sellers buy and sell safely online
and avoid fraud, please
send them to us.
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