for the final payment to the seller — all
of which would have protected both buyers in the AOL Money & Finance scam.
The scammer-seller would probably not
have been able to produce documentation
showing he owned either boat.
Hiring a marine surveyor to inspect
a used boat, especially one that’s being
sold long-distance, is essential. Never buy
a boat sight-unseen based on the seller’s
description, and never rely upon a surveyor
recommended by the seller. The BoatU.S.
Surveyor Referral Service is a good source
for independent experts.
Due to the poor economy, boat buyers have a broad selection to choose from.
Buying a long-distance bargain can come at
a price — not the least of which is the cost
of transporting the vessel across country.
Be watchful of spelling errors, grammar
problems, or inconsistent information.
Beware of sites that have escrow fees
that are unreasonably low. Consumers
can expect to pay from $500 to $1,000
in escrow fees. The amount may
depend on the value of the transaction.
MORE INFORMATION
BoatU.S. Settlement Service
www.BoatUS.com/boatloans/service/
default.asp
Internet Crime Complaint Center
www.ic3.gov
BoatU.S. Surveyor Referral Service
www.BoatUS.com/insurance/survey.asp
Law Enforcement
The Internet Crime Complaint Center
(IC3) is a partnership between the FBI and
the National White Collar Crime Center,
a nonprofit membership organization that
focuses on economic and high-tech crime.
It serves as a means to receive Internet-related criminal complaints. Escrow services fraud is listed by the IC3 as one of
the most common web crimes. The IC3
provides the following tips:
Always type in the website address
yourself rather than clicking on a link pro-
vided. For example, clicking on the link
for AOL Money & Finance brought the
searcher to an address that was slightly dif-
ferent than the one in the link.
A legitimate website will be unique and
will not duplicate the work of other companies.
Be cautious when a site requests payment to an “agent” instead of a corporate
entity. Both victims in the AOL Money &
Finance scam saw the transfer-to accounts
were different.
Be leery of escrow sites that only accept
wire transfers or e-currency. The AOL
Money & Finance site said it accepted
credit-card payments only for transactions
of $5,000 or less and that transactions
above this amount had to be made by
wire transfer. Credit card companies have
mechanisms for placing stop-payments on
disputed amounts and there are limits on
cardholders’ liability for fraudulent charges.
In contrast, wire transfers typically move
money from one bank account to another
and can’t be reversed without authorization
by the holder of the account that receives
the funds.
BoatU.S. Consumer Protection Bureau
703-461-2856 or consumerprotection@
BoatUS.com
Consumers who believe they are victims of
the AOL Money & Finance escrow scam,
or other similar internet scams, should
contact the BoatU.S. Consumer Protection
Bureau, as well as report their experiences
to the IC3.
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