Warning of Possible Scam

[Floyd Raser]

It's a variation of the old "Send me money and I'll send you the goods" scam but aimed directly at the yachting fraternity.

I am looking for a trailer for my Seal Sinbad - twin axle, around 2 tonne gvw etc. I kept finding them of similar spec and price, on islands: first Alderney, the Scillies and Islay. The person sounds genuine for a start. The guy in the Scillies wrote about working on a ship in the North Sea. No contact after I offered cash on collection. A week later I contacted another seller claiming to be on Islay. His second email was word for word identical to the guy from the Scillies including reference to the North Sea, with the same spelling mistakes. I reported these to the advertising website who said they have blocked the advertiser.

Last night I found a similar advert so I guess he's at it again. I have reported it again.

 

[awol]

Where is this "Isla" of which you write? I've known a few but they certainly weren't islands.

 

[Floyd Raser]

That better?

 

[ProDave]

Look at Alderney and the Scillies.

Then look at how many cars are on those islands (none I believe on Alderney)

Then think how much use a 2 ton boat trailer would get on those islands, and the cost and logistics of getting a trailer on and off the islands (no ro ro ferry, would have to go as freight)

If they are going to pull a scam then they need to be more plausible. Islay is more plausible as it's a larger island with a ro ro ferry service.

 

[ghostlymoron]

there are so many scams around now that you need to be constantly on your guard. for instance there was an example on fake britain last night of a fake high capacity external hard disc drive. whilst identical externally 2a well known brands it actually contains a small capacity usb memory stick and some bolts to make it weigh a respectable amount. Spacethere are also a lot of fake sd and micro sd cards so i always buy them from a reputable supplier.
ebay transactions are also very vulnerable to fraud as the buyer is required to pay for the goods before they are dispatched. i use ebay quite a lot both as buyer and seller and so far i have not been defrauded but is it only a matter of time?

 

[LP1]

I've got a lovely trailer for sale if you are still looking.

PM me for details.

 

[srp]

The same scam is used with woodworking machinery, cnc routers etc - they appear on eBay from time to time, usually with a photo borrowed from another seller. I can't think anyone would send payment before collecting the item on something like this, but I suppose they only need one daft buyer. eBay usually take such listings down if they're reported.

 

[l'escargot]

We've had an outbreak of canal boats being advertised on the Isle of Wight with lots of pictures of the boats obviously tied up to canal banks. Not the cleverest of scammers - we have no canals.

 

[seanfoster]

There are hundreds, if not thousands of these fake ads for all sorts of things on gumtree.
The tell tale signs are a particularly cheap asking price, then when you contact them, they tell you that they're selling it because their husband/wife/brother etc. has died suddenly, they won't be around for a viewing so will arrange to have the item delivered to you if you send them the money first.

I was caught out for a fish tank of all things, luckily I only lost £30!

 

[Sinbad1951]

I hope Alderney has cars. Dunno what that thing I was driving was when I went there last. Four wheels, steering wheel and a stick thingy for changing speed. Now I am worried..

 

[C08]

There was a catamaran advertised on Gumtree recently where the photos and text were ripped off a genuine e bay advert. Tale about widow living 300 miles from boat just wanted to get rid of boat at 1/3 nomal price,not sure how they planned to get the money in that instance but did encourage external viewing?

 

[Floyd Raser]

Look at Alderney and the Scillies.

Then look at how many cars are on those islands (none I believe on Alderney)

Then think how much use a 2 ton boat trailer would get on those islands, and the cost and logistics of getting a trailer on and off the islands (no ro ro ferry, would have to go as freight)

If they are going to pull a scam then they need to be more plausible. Islay is more plausible as it's a larger island with a ro ro ferry service.

The descriptions are all roughly along the same lines: that the trailer has had little use because it has only been used to launch and recover the boat a couple of times. Only suspicious with the benefit of hindsight and the other factors. On Boats and Outboards you don't find out it's on an island until you email the seller for the exact location. The scam doesn't need to be from an island; anywhere remote enough to tempt the buyer into paying for delivery up front would be worth a try.

 

[Sailfree]

Sark has no cars - just tractors pulling trailers filled with tourists!!

 

[ripvan1]

We've had an outbreak of canal boats being advertised on the Isle of Wight with lots of pictures of the boats obviously tied up to canal banks. Not the cleverest of scammers - we have no canals.

They're all tied up at Newort - honest guv I was there today looking at boat and noticed at least 2 long canal boats.

1st time there - interesting place.

 

[charles_reed]

I hope Alderney has cars. Dunno what that thing I was driving was when I went there last. Four wheels, steering wheel and a stick thingy for changing speed. Now I am worried..

Probably mix-up with Sark.

My two sons loved playing in the abandoned motors in the quarry - that would be about 1980.

 

[Daydream believer]

I hope Alderney has cars. Dunno what that thing I was driving was when I went there last. Four wheels, steering wheel and a stick thingy for changing speed. Now I am worried..

golf cart ???

 

[Sandro]

I had a similar scam attack the other way round. I had advertised a Land Rover roof rack for sale. The would be buyer, this time a pilot instead of a sailor, was aiming at my data: address and pay-pal account, and was even offering a hygher price than requested.
I wander how these people still find "customers" that bite. (is this the correct english word for a fish biting the hook? that's what I mean)
Sandro

 

[Floyd Raser]

I had a similar scam attack the other way round. I had advertised a Land Rover roof rack for sale. The would be buyer, this time a pilot instead of a sailor, was aiming at my data: address and pay-pal account, and was even offering a hygher price than requested.
I wander how these people still find "customers" that bite. (is this the correct english word for a fish biting the hook? that's what I mean)
Sandro

I know what you mean.

For a start, any scam on the internet costs virtually nothing to set up so they have little to lose. Then they practice and make themselves sound plausible. We already pay up front for postage on ebay but where do individuals draw the line between what is acceptable and what isn't? There seems to be more and more encouragement for older people to use the internet which makes a good future for scammers.

 

[JumbleDuck]

Where is this "Isla" of which you write? I've known a few but they certainly weren't islands.

The Isla Man?

 

[oldharry]

The Isla Man?

Nah, maybe the Isla Wight,just to give him the needles....

But its a real jungle out there,all kinds of scams running, which cost nothing to set up except a bit of time,and sooner or later will hit the jackpot at some poor souls expense. See the current header about the YBW survey scam. It took me several hours to clear up the mess of malware and rubbish that dropped on my lappie. Mostly intrusive adware that changed my search engines and homepages, causing popups every thirty seconds, and slowed everything to a crawl as it logged my browsing to at least 8 different agencies, and who knows what else?