Boat Buying Season Scams

Some Red Flags You’re About to be Taken for a Ride

It’s summer boating season and some boat buyers and sellers are getting ripped off, say’s Boat Owners Association of The United States (BoatUS). The national boater advocacy, safety and services group outlined the top boat selling scams reported to its Consumer Protection Bureau and offers some ways to greatly improve your chance of a smooth sale or purchase – and when to walk away.

Getting a cashier’s check or money for more than asking price: Anytime a buyer offers to pay more for the asking price of the boat your are selling – run away. Today, it’s easy for criminals to print counterfeit bank checks, and by the time your bank figures out the loss, the bad guys are far away, and you will be liable for the lost funds. Always contact the financial institution on which the check was drawn to verify the account, but don’t dial the phone number printed on the check, if possible. The amount of the bank check should also match in numerals and words, and the account number should not be shiny in appearance. Official checks are generally perforated on at least one side.

A twist on the same for the electronic age: Recently PayPal has become a target for scammers. A phony buyer again asks to send substantially more than the asking price. Later, you get a fake confirmation email from PayPal with your user ID for more than the agreed purchase price – with instructions from the buyer advising you to send the extra money to a shipper. The scam can seem even more legit – if you refuse, you may receive additional fake email notices from PayPal threatening to close your account if you don’t transfer the extra money as per your “agreement.”

An escrow service scam: A bogus seller advertises a boat on a website at a low, but not scam-worthy price. When the scammer finds a buyer, they will tell them to use a legitimate sounding yet fictitious escrow service, like GoogleMoney.com. But once the funds are transferred, you’ll never hear from the seller again. It’s wise to use an escrow service for a long-distance purchase, but be very cautious with escrow services you’re not familiar with, and go with established providers such as eBay’s Escrow.com.

Email red flags that mean you may be taken for a ride: Poor grammar, spelling and language use; no phone number for the buyer/seller; generic references (ex. “merchandise”) to the boat being sold; changing names and locations in emails; a buyer who shows no interest in haggling over price or seeing the boat firsthand; a buyer or seller who has no interest in discussing titling or verifying the boat’s Hull Identification Number (HIN).

For a free buying and selling guide for boaters, go to www.BoatUS.com/consumer.

President Signs Legislation Important to Recreational Boaters “Highway Bill for Boaters”

WASHINGTON, DC, June 11, 2014 – Acknowledging that recreational boating is a significant contributor to the nation’s economy as well as a growth engine for local communities, President Obama signed bipartisan legislation earlier this week that recognizes that the Federal government needs to do more to help small harbors, address longstanding dredging issues, and improve boating and navigation infrastructure. Boat Owners Association of The United States (BoatUS) applauds the passing of the 2013 Water Resources Reform and Development Act (WRRDA) and thanks the bill’s sponsors, Congressmen Bill Shuster (R-PA) and Nick Rahall, III (D-WV) and Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and David Vitter (R-LA), and the President. BoatUS was an active advocate for WRRDA and will be working on its implementation.

“Maintenance dredging for small harbors and shallow-draft channels has been chronically underfunded,” said BoatUS Government Affairs Senior Program Coordinator David Kennedy. “In addition, funding for infrastructure such as jetties and some inland navigation locks has been significantly curtailed. The 2013 WRRDA Act directs the US Army Corps of Engineers to consider factors beyond total tonnage shipped in making dredging funding decisions, requires that not less than 10% of the value of operation and maintenance funds be directed to ‘Emerging Harbors’ or those that have less than one million tons of cargo shipped annually, and directs the Army Corps to report to Congress on the maintenance needs of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway.”

Also, WRRDA for the first time treats the Great Lakes as one single comprehensive navigation system, potentially allowing funding for dredging of smaller harbors. In addition, the US Army Corps is directed to study potential new revenue sources for the Inland Waterways Trust Fund – and are required to consult recreational users, among other stakeholders.

Added Kennedy, “From small West Coast ports to Great Lakes harbors of refuge, inland locks, and the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, boat owners depend on federal waterway infrastructure projects to keep them safe and provide authorized waterways deep enough for us to navigate. With 12 million registered boats in the US and over 80 million persons participating in boating, we also need to remember that boating generates $121 billion in US economic activity and over 950,000 jobs.”