Forum menu
I saw an Ebay listing for a RIB that was up for sale for probably about 60% of it's value in a classified ad.
The seller had zero feedback.
A little bit of googling, showed that the boat was up for sale in a different location, at a realistic price, through a broker.
Now, I suspected it was a scam so asked a few questions about paperwork, location and the pricing.
Today it has been relisted by the genuine seller, at the location indicated by the broker, at a sensible price. It also advises that the other ad was a scam.
What were scammers hoping would happen? There was no buy it now and surely no one could be stupid enough to pay £10,000 by bank transfer for something they haven't seen. What is the scam?
surely no one could be stupid enough to pay £10,000 by bank transfer for something they haven't seen
you may be overestimating some people...
Agreed. There are plenty of potential victims out there.
Even if they got a few people to pay a 10% deposit they would be getting money for nothing
I know what you are saying but with this bit of kit, it's pretty niche.
I know most of the major RIB builders and this was a brand I had never heard of and a quick google showed that the only one that appears is this exact same boat.
Surely it would make more sense to pick a common model that wouldn't show up as a scam so easily?
Besides, it was a 140hp boat, do you really buy one without a bit of research?
The way online scams work is that they are deliberately obvious as to only attract/snare the most oblivious of victims.
The theory being, if your victim is [i]that[/i] stupid, they'll also be too stupid to try and get their money back.
I say this not as a humiliation of the poor victims, just the facts.
What were scammers hoping would happen?
this:
I suspected it was a scam so asked a few questions