Boat Buyers: Scammer alert!
 

I'm in the market for a 26-30 foot Center Console and have been watching Craigslist for potential sales. The 'perfect' boat came up in the Detroit area, so I started communicating with the seller. The price was attractive, borderline 'too' attractive. The seller's husband had died and she relocated from Florida (where the boat's located) to Michigan.

This morning I did a bit more investigating on the seller's name and found 'she' has an identical ad for a different model boat in Bremerton, WA. Same seller, same "I moved to Michigan", same "please use Bing.com sales process."

Anyway, if you're in the market for a boat and see a seller named Laura Steinn from Houghton Lake, MI, report it as a scam.

Here's a link to a guy that saw the scam in WA: Scam busters!: Laura Steinn lscabins

Damn scammers. I wish I could think of a way to make this one feel pain. :nutkick:


UPDATE: Did a bit more investigating and found the same bitch had that boat for sale in 19 different cities all around the country. Slightly different story, same exact pictures, different contact info. I tracked 'em all down and reported the bastard to CL Fraud -- within 24 hours all the ads were pulled. :cheers:

Never buy anything off Craigslist that you don't pick up in person.

:iagree:

Including apartments. The condo next to my sister is for rent. Some dude showed up the other day asking when he could move in, since he paid first and last. He paid it to a businessman who was going to be in Africa for a prolonged period. Yup, this dumbass sent first and last to an address in Africa.

Yup, I agree.

The email exchange was going along pretty normal until 'she' said that my brother in Florida couldn't drive over to view the boat at the storage facility. I noticed the distinctive scam smell right away.

No in-person, no sale.

Whew....Thank God ! I was just about to buy a boat off Craig's List.:shots:

I wonder if someone showed it to him?

If not he is a real dummy.:issues:

Come to think of it, he is a real dummy anyway.:kick:

Until I started looking this winter, that's what I thought (assuming you were a tad less than serious).

It appears that Craigslist has become another must-have point of contact for potential buyers. Searching the Great Lakes lakeshore communities *only*, I found several hundred boats between $30K and $100K. :eek:

Dealers, private sellers, brokers, and scammers are all using Craigslist to attract interest.

people suck.
:yesnod::yesnod:

So what did you get?
:waiting:

Holy thread resurrection Batman!

And this thread has 40,924 views and only 9 replies? :wtf:

:rofl::rofl:

I just found myself "Searchin' " the old posts to catch up.

Searchin'
 

Holy 2nd resurrection! :seasix:

Bought a 35' Intrepid with twin Suzuki 250's. Been fishing all summer. :hurray::cert:

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e3...rageMarina.jpg

Wow! Nice boat!

You here too many bad things happening on Craigs list.

Those are nice boats. I have two friends with Intrepids, one has a 375 CC and the other has a 400 Cuddy.

Nigeria???