Scammer wants to buy my Mac26X

[kleinhhl]

Got this email from an obvious scammer as a response to my Mac26X ad on Sailingtexas.com. It's a little disconcerting to know it's more than just spam and there's actually a person behind this. He has used this 'Marine Corps' facade many times in other scams.

Just thought it would be good to make people aware of this...

Hugo
MacGregor 26X - Baja Riha
Lake Oologah, OK

*********************
Hello,

Thanks for the update e-mail i do appreciate it..I'm a Marine engineer from GA but 'm off shore at the moment..Your asking $14999 is fair which i will like to make an initial deposit so you can be sure i'm very much interested..I shall contact an agency to come over and inspect since i'm off-shore as i do not know its present condition before i can send your balance..As for the deposit payment,my preferred is a US cashiers check..its guaranteed and shall be easily cashed..Being off-shore,the agency owns the balance to the deposit check so you keep $1500 for the deposit,the fund left on the check is for the agency you send it out so that they can be in your location for inspection cos they making other vital inspections and deliveries for me..
You provide me your full name,address and phone # so that the check can be mailed to you..I shall be back in 3 weeks,but then my regiment will be deployed to Afghanistan and I shall stay there for a while.
You would have all your money in your hand after inspection is completed before title is released and shipped okay..I'll give you a call once i get onshore like wise the agent so that all arrangement could be intact..The best way to contact me is via email as I'm always running around with things..

Lodge Paul
US Marine Corps
2nd Assault Amphibian Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine
Expeditionary Force
*****************

[Trouts Dream]

If their grammar is worse than most members of the backroom....be assured its a scam

[Catigale]

Okay, I'll bite... I don't see the scam ... Where are they asking you to send them money?'

[Fxwg80hd]

As for the deposit payment,my preferred is a US cashiers check..its guaranteed and shall be easily cashed..Being off-shore,the agency owns the balance to the deposit check so you keep $1500 for the deposit,the fund left on the check is for the agency you send it out so that they can be in your location for inspection cos they making other vital inspections and deliveries for me..

Cat - This is where the scam is. The scammer asked that extra money from the cashiers check be sent to the company that will do the inspection. if it was a true offer, the purchaser would pay the inspection company directly.

[kleinhhl]

This is how it works:

This is the beginning stages of the scam. In this email correspondence, he wants to send me a cashier's check for more than the down payment on the boat. The extra amount supposedly goes to the agency to do the boat inspection but, in reality, it ends up going back to the scammer because there is no boat inspector. The extra amount on the cashier's check is how the scammer makes money on the scam. The cashier's checks are fake which leads me being responsible to the bank where I cashed it. The banks sues me to recover the money and I may go to jail for check fraud. The scammer goes free but if the cashier's check scam worked, he may try to get more money out of the victim...

Besides that, his email address and military facade are documented to be scam related.

1. http://www.thehulltruth.com/boats-sale- ... eware.html
2. http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-904-685-1627

-Hugo

[Ixneigh]

Can someone explain why the bank would honor a fake check in the first place!???? Sort of makes them complicit.
By this logic I could print something on my printer like "bank of Cock and Bull cashiers check" for a million dollars, buy a boat with it from cat take the rest of the money in cash and flee the country. Highly illegal and unethical but I'd be set for life in Tahiti provided I could sail a boat to there with dying

If the bank holds the check until verifying the counterparty would not it end these scams cold??

Ixneigh

[Sea Wind]

You can file a complaint for an internet crime scheme. See
http://www.ic3.gov/crimeschemes.aspx#item-3

This is a case of Counterfeit Cashier's Check

[frede]

Not to worry, Mr. Smith Lodge Paul has sent me the same eMail in an effort to purcahse my 26D, also listed at sailingtexas.com, so he's probably not going to buy your boat anyway.

[kleinhhl]

Ixneigh,

I agree with your points (well, except the Tahiti bit, although that does sound nice ). I think these scams could be stopped in this day and age but were it not for the antiquated way banks handle checks. The check clearing process still can take just long enough or longer for this scam to work out. Especially if the victim cashes the check and immediately meets with the 'boat inspection agent'.

If checks were cleared in real time rather in batches at the end of day, things would be much more difficult for these scammers.

-Hugo

[Catigale]

Its a pretty poor scam, since it requires you to be an idiot and send them money before their check has cleared. My bank (both personal and business) wouldnt clear an international bank or cashiers check until the funds are transferred, so it would come to a stop pretty fast.

It wasnt clear to me in the OP how they hoped to get your money, thanks for clarifying.

As documented above , the guy is a fake, of course.

[Highlander]

For any of you guy's who are willing to freely part with your doh-ray-me !! I'll glady except your donation's 100# bills inside a nice gift card will do fine no need to waste your time getting Check's !!!!

J

[Miss_Dallie]

It was easy for me to see the scam once I read the email all the way through. I spent 15 years in the Marine Corps and there's no way a marine is going to exclude his rank when signing a letter or email. OOHRAH!

Now that I'm going to be sailing, I need to get rid of the fouled anchor that's part of the Marine Corps emblem.

Ron (ex-Marine SSGT)

[kleinhhl]

While I agree you would have to be pretty dense to fall for this scam and there should be sufficient bank safeguards... apparently, several people have fallen victim to this scam artist to the tune of several thousand dollars...

-Hugo

[pokerrick1]

for a million dollars, buy a boat with it from cat take the rest of the money in cash and flee the country.

One other small problem - - - where is Cat going to get the difference between the boat and a million dollars

Rick

[Catigale]

...see Lottery thread....