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Scammers are showing up in the boat listings more frequently lately. I see a number of people are bidding on scam listings, so some people are obviously being taken in by the scammers.
These crooks are preying on people's greed. Remember: IF IT SOUNDS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, IT IS!
The scam works something like this: The scammer usually steals the account of someone with good feedback. They list a valuable item for far less than market value. They need you to contact them outside eBay where they tell you they need money fast, so they'll give you a deal, but only if you wire them money right away.
They're hoping your greed will lead you to wire them money. Once you do, they disappear and you get nothing.
Oh, and the boat they list doesn't exist. (They steal the photos from other people's listings.)
Here are some tip-offs:
Protect Yourself
These scam listings are done by organized crime gangs, mostly in Eastern Europe. Google Romainian eBay Scams to learn more. Once you recognize the format of scam listings, it's best to avoid these people. After all, the boats they sell don't exist, and once you send them money, it's gone!
Reporting Scam Listings
The bottom of each eBay page has a Security Center link.Click it then "Report another problem", then "Account Security", then "Unauthorized account activity", then "Report another user's account as stolen" (since scammers work from stolen accounts) then "Email us with your question or concern". Enter the account ID (cut and paste makes it accurate and easy) and for "question/concern" give "fraudulent boat listing" or something like that. Ebay gives high priority to stolen accounts, so this reporting gets their attention as fast as possible.
Just like everywhere else in life, there are crooks mixed in with all the honest people. Personally, I've bought two sailboats on eBay and have been very satisfied with the both transactions. The people who list stuff on eBay are the same people you run into in the real world, good and bad both.
Good luck and happy eBaying!
These crooks are preying on people's greed. Remember: IF IT SOUNDS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, IT IS!
The scam works something like this: The scammer usually steals the account of someone with good feedback. They list a valuable item for far less than market value. They need you to contact them outside eBay where they tell you they need money fast, so they'll give you a deal, but only if you wire them money right away.
They're hoping your greed will lead you to wire them money. Once you do, they disappear and you get nothing.
Oh, and the boat they list doesn't exist. (They steal the photos from other people's listings.)
Here are some tip-offs:
1) The listing requires you to contact the seller to get approval to bid. They need to get your e-mail address because eBay will quickly shut down the account they've stolen, and they wouldn't be able to contact you through your eBay account after that happens.
2) The description is usually sketchy or wrong. These scammers show up all over eBay with listings for all kinds of expensive merchandise. The item is just bait. They don't have a clue about it. If the boat picture shows palm trees but the location is Toronto, it's probably a scam.
3) They offer a Buy It Now price in the listing, but don't have a Buy It Now button. Again, they need you to contact them to get this price.
4) The price is far below market value. For instance, a $90K boat for $25K. If you contact them they'll tell you some sad story about needing the money fast, but it's a lie. Think about it. A boat dealer will give you most of the market value in cash right now for a boat. Why would someone want to sell it for far less?
5) Free Shipping for a large boat anywhere in North America. The cost of trucking these boats runs $4 per mile or more, plus load and unload fees. Why is someone desperate for money going to cough up thousands to pay a boat transport company?
6) Short listing times, usually one to three days. A real seller will list for seven or ten days to get as many bidders as possible to see the listing. The scammer knows eBay will shut down his listing in a day or two, so he has to get people to contact him quickly with a quick ending time.
7) If you contact the seller, it turns out the boat or seller is in Europe, or someplace far from the listed location. Of course they don't want you to try to look at the boat, because it doesn't exist.
2) The description is usually sketchy or wrong. These scammers show up all over eBay with listings for all kinds of expensive merchandise. The item is just bait. They don't have a clue about it. If the boat picture shows palm trees but the location is Toronto, it's probably a scam.
3) They offer a Buy It Now price in the listing, but don't have a Buy It Now button. Again, they need you to contact them to get this price.
4) The price is far below market value. For instance, a $90K boat for $25K. If you contact them they'll tell you some sad story about needing the money fast, but it's a lie. Think about it. A boat dealer will give you most of the market value in cash right now for a boat. Why would someone want to sell it for far less?
5) Free Shipping for a large boat anywhere in North America. The cost of trucking these boats runs $4 per mile or more, plus load and unload fees. Why is someone desperate for money going to cough up thousands to pay a boat transport company?
6) Short listing times, usually one to three days. A real seller will list for seven or ten days to get as many bidders as possible to see the listing. The scammer knows eBay will shut down his listing in a day or two, so he has to get people to contact him quickly with a quick ending time.
7) If you contact the seller, it turns out the boat or seller is in Europe, or someplace far from the listed location. Of course they don't want you to try to look at the boat, because it doesn't exist.
Protect Yourself
These scam listings are done by organized crime gangs, mostly in Eastern Europe. Google Romainian eBay Scams to learn more. Once you recognize the format of scam listings, it's best to avoid these people. After all, the boats they sell don't exist, and once you send them money, it's gone!
1) Only contact sellers through eBay "Ask seller a question" links. When you send a message to the seller, absolutely make sure to check the "Hide my email address from [seller]" box. If you don't, the scammers will know your eBay account name and your real email address. With this information it's thought the scammers can crack your account and use your reputation to cheat others. Once you get comfortable a seller is legit, then it's OK to let them know your address
2) The scammers also crack accounts by phishing. They send you to a webpage that looks like an eBay log in screen, but is really on their computer. Once you enter your password, they've got it! Always look at the location bar in your browser. If you are logging into eBay it must start with "https://signin.ebay.com" Anything else, and it's a scammer's site.
If you realize you've been phished, go to the eBay account security help page and follow the instructions.
3) Lately some scammers have been using listing pages that reload themselves to replace eBay material with the scammer's material. If you go to a listing, see the page load then have it flicker, it could be loading the scammer's page over top of the eBay page. Typical things that happen are the auction end time is rewritten to be very short, perhaps an hour. The standard eBay warnings on the bottom of each page about never use wire transfer is rewritten with statements like "This seller has $20,000 on deposit with eBay Assurance" (which doesn't exist, by the way). The scammers don't want you to take time to research the item, ask questions or hesitate to send them money.
If the "Ask seller a question" link takes you to your email program instead of the eBay question page, the scammer has reloaded the listing page. Other links on these pages sometimes take you to fake log-in pages. Remember, always look for the http://[something].ebay.com in your browser's location bar.
4) Always, Always, ALWAYS personally inspect a boat before bidding. If you can't afford stand-by airfare, you can't afford the boat. Even if the boat exists, one man's trash is another man's treasure. Used boats can hide all kinds of bad (and expensive) surprises. If the seller doesn't want you to see it, there's a reason.
5) If anyone asks for money wire transfered, especially out of the country, a red flag should go up. Wire transfer is untraceable. Once you send the money, it's gone, regardless of what assurances the scammer gives you.
2) The scammers also crack accounts by phishing. They send you to a webpage that looks like an eBay log in screen, but is really on their computer. Once you enter your password, they've got it! Always look at the location bar in your browser. If you are logging into eBay it must start with "https://signin.ebay.com" Anything else, and it's a scammer's site.
If you realize you've been phished, go to the eBay account security help page and follow the instructions.
3) Lately some scammers have been using listing pages that reload themselves to replace eBay material with the scammer's material. If you go to a listing, see the page load then have it flicker, it could be loading the scammer's page over top of the eBay page. Typical things that happen are the auction end time is rewritten to be very short, perhaps an hour. The standard eBay warnings on the bottom of each page about never use wire transfer is rewritten with statements like "This seller has $20,000 on deposit with eBay Assurance" (which doesn't exist, by the way). The scammers don't want you to take time to research the item, ask questions or hesitate to send them money.
If the "Ask seller a question" link takes you to your email program instead of the eBay question page, the scammer has reloaded the listing page. Other links on these pages sometimes take you to fake log-in pages. Remember, always look for the http://[something].ebay.com in your browser's location bar.
4) Always, Always, ALWAYS personally inspect a boat before bidding. If you can't afford stand-by airfare, you can't afford the boat. Even if the boat exists, one man's trash is another man's treasure. Used boats can hide all kinds of bad (and expensive) surprises. If the seller doesn't want you to see it, there's a reason.
5) If anyone asks for money wire transfered, especially out of the country, a red flag should go up. Wire transfer is untraceable. Once you send the money, it's gone, regardless of what assurances the scammer gives you.
Reporting Scam Listings
The bottom of each eBay page has a Security Center link.Click it then "Report another problem", then "Account Security", then "Unauthorized account activity", then "Report another user's account as stolen" (since scammers work from stolen accounts) then "Email us with your question or concern". Enter the account ID (cut and paste makes it accurate and easy) and for "question/concern" give "fraudulent boat listing" or something like that. Ebay gives high priority to stolen accounts, so this reporting gets their attention as fast as possible.
Just like everywhere else in life, there are crooks mixed in with all the honest people. Personally, I've bought two sailboats on eBay and have been very satisfied with the both transactions. The people who list stuff on eBay are the same people you run into in the real world, good and bad both.
Good luck and happy eBaying!
Guide created: 07/07/07 (updated 10/05/08)
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