We ran an in-depth article two years ago about scams being operated when people are buying or selling boats but thought it was well worth an update, as unfortunately the problem has got worse rather than better.

Our article from April 2015 briefly ran through a number of the most common scam techniques:

• asking for an up-front deposit to hold the (non-existent) boat before you've seen it.
• overpaying with a fraudulent cheque or banker's draft so that you refund the difference with real cash.
• asking for money transfers with less safe mechanisms like Western Union or MoneyGram.
• asking you to arrange and pay for shipping with a long-distance "sale" that never happens.
• a tall tale that ends with you giving over personal details that can be used to clear out your accounts.

So what's changed?

Although sadly most of the scams above are still going, one positive change for the better is that most telephone companies now disconnect calls within a few seconds regardless of which end hangs up.

Why does that matter? Previously phone calls would only disconnect if the person who made the call hung up. If you received the call and hung up but the scammer kept their phone off the hook, the line could stay open for up to half an hour.

The fake bank call

Con artists have been exploiting this loophole to say to people "Look, if you don't believe me, call your bank to check it out." So you would hang up and dial your bank but the scammers would hold the line open and put a different person on the line, so you'd think you were talking to your bank. They'd then reassure you that everything was fine.

This became such a big problem with all sorts of fraud, not just around boat sales, that the police and consumer groups put pressure on the phone companies to change it. Now if someone says they've sent you money for your boat, you can hang up, check for the dial tone, then call your bank in safety.

Stolen boats website

It's also well worth mentioning Stolenboats.org.uk

As the names suggests, the website records as many stolen boats and engines as possible. The benefits are two-fold: firstly you can check to see if an item is stolen before you buy and secondly you can provide information if you believe you've located a stolen item.

All this makes it more difficult for thieves to dispose of stolen goods and the harder that becomes, the less likely they are to target boats and boat owners. The postings on the site are made by insurance companies and the police rather than members of the public so it's good quality information.

Stay safe

Obviously we hope that all readers and customers don't meet any scammers whilst trying to buy or sell a boat. The main thing to remember is that if it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is - walk away.

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