Offer on my boat, is it real or some kind of scam?
 

Hey guys, I could use a little help here. I just put my 2005 Sunscape 23 LSV up for sale last week. The ads are on Wakeworld, craigslist Norcal, and OnlyInboards.com . I've gotten an inquiry from someone in the United Arab Emirates. We've exchanged a few e mails, his English isn't great but perfectly understandable, and after answering all his questions about the boat today he offered to buy it. He is asking for the normal bank info. anyone would need to transfer money to me, and nothing that I can see which would allow me to get ripped off like some weird Nigerian deal with exchanging money or something.

So here are my questions. Is this for real? If so, how to I arrange payment so that I've got the money in my bank account and everything has cleared completely before I deliver the boat? Do I have to collect sales tax for the State of California and where does that go? Am I allowed to sell a wakeboard boat to a foreign country? I just have no experience with something like this. Thanks for any assistance.

SCAM, next he will be sending you a check that will be for more money then your asking. That will be followed by him asking for you to send the Differance back to him using Western Union or sending it to a local Friend of theirs

The Check will be real but it is tipically stolen.

I got the same offer on the last boat I sold.

Chris

Call your bank and find our from them what the best way is to have an electronic funds transfer sent to your account. They can give you the specifics necessary for an international transfer, if that is what it is, and lest what precautions you need to take.
If I was buying a boat in another country I would not be paying for it without a way to claim the boat at the time of the transfer. That is what would send up a red flag if this were my deal.

Scam. There are other ways to get your money that don't involve giving up your bank info.

Sounds fishy to me. Have him send you a scan of a government issued photo ID. Then, after you receive it ask him to do a skype video call with you. If the same dude shows up on skype then you can be reasonably sure that he's not hiding his identity. If it's a cam he'd probably have sent you a fake ID with someone else's picture on it then refuse to skype.

If that checks out then you could use an escrow service to protect both buyer and seller.

I agree....SCAM. Even if he can produce the funds, more than likely he'll be using money obtained from stolen credit or checks. The bank will then take back all funds and you're out of a boat and no money.

If you have to ask then run as fast as you can away from this deal.

Open a savings account or other checking account with 1$ and give him that info. I agree with getting your bank on board. Maybe and escrow?
Allot of sport boats are going to the UAE lately. Some oil prince from Quatar i think, just paid full asking (dealer was 10K high) for an Enzo i was looking at and it had some definite issues.
Protect yourself carefully and sell the boat. It is for sale, right?
Your routing and account numbers are on every check you write. Not secret stuff there.

BTW, i have done three very successful boat deals this year with a man from Nigeria who is a contractor. Two Contenders and an Intrepid.
Not everybody who doesn't live here is a crook. Not all Somolies are pirates.
Due diligence--do business

It's a scam. Walk away. Someone in UAE is not perusing boats here.

If you really want to pursue it, use an escrow service to protect yourself. Don't give out your bank info and don't let it fall on the bank figuring they will take the loss if the money is taken. We all pay for it.

My guess is he is not going to wire you the money and he will not be sending you an overvalued check and asking for you to wire back the balance (both scams), but rather he will use your account number to create new checks which he will pass through several other accounts and pulling the money.

I have worked in banking for 15 years and these things never end good.

I got the same email a few days ago on my boat. SCAM. Ignore and move on.

If the lead came from onlyinboards please forward to Ian at onlyinboards dot com and I'll tell you if he is a known scammed but I'd say scam

Total SCAM. Why would anyone that far away want to buy your boat? If you think it's a scam, then it is......

I got the same inquiry on the boat I had listed for sale. He had a very western sounding name, Mr Robert Alex from UAE, but the English in the email was really broken. I blew it off as a scam.

Attention,

Sorry, I couldn't resist starting my post like this scammer starts his emails. Read his questions, if they are anything like mine: "Has your BOAT been in an accident?" or "How many miles are on your BOAT?" Probably the same list he tries to scam people for cars too, just changes vehicle type. I could be losing out but I'm ignoring his emails.

Scammer, I got an e-mail from that guy. He made me think. Not this guy, though. Ian is on it:



Name: Mr Robert Alex
Email: robertalex2000@aol.com
Phone number:
Message: Attention,
We saw the advert of your(BOAT)for sale kindly get

back to me if it is still available for sale. Get back to me with your last

offer.

I await your reply soonest.
Best Regards.

Mr Robert Alex
robertalex2000@aol.com

FYI for those that got hit by the numerous scammers that have been hitting OnlyInboards recently, we've added captcha to the lead form as well as a 10 form limit per hour. Hopefully this will send these jerk-offs back to craigslist!

Thanks everyone for all the information. Too bad, it would have been kind of cool to sell my boat to the UAE. Of course, if baitkiller is correct then I might be throwing away a real offer. I think I'll look into the escrow idea. Hopefully someone a bit closer to California will buy the boat first.

I got the same RobertAlex e-mail. Deleted it on the spot and never responded