Buyer scamming seller?
 

So I have someone who is interested in buying my boat. I have been talking with them through emails. They have agreed to buy the boat for the asking price without seeing it. They want to make the payment through paypal, and when I have received the funds they said they would have a shipping company pick the boat up and take care of any paper work and ship it to him abroad as he puts it.

Maybe he's legit but this all just seems to be going too easy. I have no experience with paypal. Obviously I wouldn't hand the title over without the funds in my bank account.

So what your opinion? am I being potentially scammed?

yes

It's a Craigslist/Paypal scam.

They will send you a phishing email that appears to be from Paypal, but it is not. It will show that you have money in your Paypal account, but you really have nothing.

Do an internet search, you can read about the details. Bottom line is if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is

I just had the same type of emails last week... I told him I would have to update the price by $10,000 since he's using PayPal then sent him my address of f#@kyouscammer@paypal.com

100% scam

Well that's too bad. Why can't people just be honest?

Unfortunately it's the world we live in

Scam

its totally a scam, but mess with him, keep playing along with the guy, see if you can get as much out of him as possible then report to the authorities. Hes probably working out of Nigeria but its fun to mess with those guys.

Im from New Zealand and did pretty much exactly the same thing about 5 years ago with my boat.

Damn you americans are hard to deal with......... We missed out on three boats as people throught we were ripping them off.

The fact its paypal isnt a good sign but if it was an international money transfer, cleared through your bank it is probably legit.

This is pretty much where this thread could have ended.



Probably because foreigners are always trying to rip us off ;)

Or maybe Americans are just smarter about protecting their assets (I kind of laughed as I reread that statement haha)? Here's an experience I had when I sold Mastercrafts back in 2008. I was on Craigslist and found a 2000 Xstar for $3,500 and a link to an ebay add. The story went on to talk about how the husband bought the boat and was killed in Iraq and now the family was selling off assets to pay for family expenses. Normally scam would have popped up in my mind but the link to the ebay add looked so real (ebay emblems and all) that I thought for sure it was legit. I called and talked to the so called owner and nearly wired the money. As a precaution I decided to forward the add to ebay direct for good measure. Sure enough I had an email from ebay in minutes stating it was a scam. You can not believe how legit this add looked. It even had an ebay web address it was crazy. So as an American I would encourage other Americans to keep being cautious,

first of all, if you buy a BOAT sight unseen wouldnt you at least have a surveyor inspect it? if no buyer or surveyor i would expect a scam.

If someone wants to buy your boat sight unseen and your bank checks out the money and says it is legit, why care?

Even if you posted your bank account number on wakeworld, there would be little to no chance someone could access a cent . If the money is in and cleared, sounds like a mean deal to me. Actually buying a boat is another story though. Very easy to send money, near on impossible to get it back.

You guys are all so cynical! I just found out that a relative of mine (never met them strangely enough) had bought a diamond mine in the Congo. Turns
out this mine was worth a fortune!! Well, long story short , the relative died and left the entire thing to me!! Woohoo! All I had to do was send a small
lawyers fee (2000$) via money orders to the lawyer. He says I should expect the deed to my new mine any day now! I am soooooo excited. I had to miss
this months house payment but no worries! As soon as I have the deed it's easy street for me and my family!!!
Sometimes good things do happen to good people!!!

Signed
I.R. Stoopid
(future Diamond Tycoon)

I bought a boat sight unseen from Texas and have it shipped to Michigan and sent money via paypal. I did, however, have a local buddy I trusted check the boat out and talk to the owner, so that probably made him feel more comfortable.

I would say if you have never had a phone conversation with someone that is atempting to buy your boat, I would say it is a scam. At that point, it is pretty easy to tell if they are asking the right questions.

lol!

LOL...that is not exactly sight unseen.

This is from Paypal. If you use it, ensure the funds have cleared the 21 day hold or you may find yourself missing the boat and the cash!