Ebay Scam on Boat Parts

[joemerchant]

I guess this happens more often than you think. Purchased an item on Ebay at wholsae price. Was shipped an item immediately from Jamestown Distributers. That was my first clue as they don't sell at a deep discount, but they have stuff you can't get other places. A day later, I recived another one from Discount Marine. At that point, I knew what was going to happen next. Either they were going to request one shipped back to the seller or a little more money. They asked for a little more money.

Here is the scam. The Ebay and Paypal account are hacked. They offer an item at wholsale, then when the auction is won, they order it with a stolen credit card in the buyers name and shipped to the buyer. Once the vendor finds out the card was bogus, usually a month later on their statement from the bank, they contact the ebay buyer to get their money and/or item back. The buyer is now on the hook for the item and could lose the money they paid for it on Ebay. At the very least, it takes Ebay/Paypal months to investigate.

Local Law enforcement don't want anything to do with it as it is small and out of their juristdiction.

Lucky for me, I have seen all the tricks in the world, and notified Jamestown and Discount before I installed the product. The bad thing is the 4 hours of my time trying to talk to Ebay, the distributers and local law enforcement.

Seems the scam is also done on Amazon. So, next time someone asks me if it is worth waiting for it to go on sale at West, or even Jamestown, I will say it absolutely is.

[Sea Hunt Video]

This is exactly why I do not buy anything on ebay, Amazon or any of the other similar operations. I also do not give my credit card over the Internet. I call a living breathing human being and give them my credit card number and not much else (no DOB, etc.) or I send them a check with "FOR DEPOSIT ONLY" stamped in large red letters on the back.

I also check my credit card account balance on line at least every other day for any unauthorized charges. I found one once for $0.64. The credit card company said they thought it might be a fraud scheme where hackers were testing the system just to see what they could get away with. Sort of like "probing the wire" on a battlefield.

Yes, I know it is possible that the "living breathing human being" I talk with can illegally use my credit card number. However, at least then law enforcement has some way to track who I dealt with on the phone, etc.

Joe, you are lucky you are computer savvy. Guys like me would be stuck not knowing what to do. Racking the slide on my Remington 870 is my usual "go to" reaction when someone is trying to scam me. Ineffective with a computer.

[joemerchant]

HA. I have that same gun. It is amazing the attention that pump gets when it slides, it has just the right sound to command immediate attention.

I am in a family of law enforcement and well versed in computer crime. I posted it to show that it can happen to anyone.

I really like the folks over at Jamestown as they have always been great help and just a phone call away from any issue. They are out two-way shipping on this, and part of it is to show why we end up paying more because it costs them more.

[Jim Walsh]

So far Robert has mentioned he has a Remington 870 and a Remington 700. Wonder what's next.

[Sea Hunt Video]

So far Robert has mentioned he has a Remington 870 and a Remington 700. Wonder what's next.

The 700 is for longer range shots for gators, crocs and other "vermin".
The 870 is to get, and keep, someone's attention.

I like Remington products. So did my Dad. American made. They make a 1911 model I am thinking about also.

[joemerchant]

Please, I do not want this to be a discussion about guns.

This could have gone the other way. I could have just figured it was an honest mistake by the seller and left it at that until Jamestown and Discount got their statements back and a chargeback from the bank on the stolen credit card that was used. Then I would have had to uninstall the item and send it back. The moral, is anything that seems too good - IS.


I want to thank Jamestown Distributers again. These guys are the only ones who made it easy for me to clear it all up.

Ebay has required 4 hours thus far on the phone, and they wanted me to send the items back to the seller and I may never see my $162 back.

Still trying to get in touch with Discount Marine. No phone number, only email by form.

[Sea Hunt Video]

Please, I do not want this to be a discussion about guns.

Joe:

You are correct. Unfortunately, I think I am the guilty party that temporarily diverted your thread. Sorry. Old habits die hard.

Your experience with ebay (4 hrs and probable loss of $162) is exactly why I do not shop on ebay or Craig's List, Amazon, etc. Too many pitfalls. I know of people who have bought boats and cars on ebay or Craig's List SIGHT UNSEEN Now that takes some real nerve. Every once in a while there is a Cape Dory for sale on Craig's List or ebay. Scary.

P.S. If they do not refund your $162 I would "unleash the lawyers"

[oldragbaggers]

I am really surprised by all this. I have been dealing extensively on eBay since 2001 and have bought and sold thousands of dollars in merchandise. We have bought and sold boats and a car (sold) this year as well. I also deal extensively on Amazon (Prime Member) and have never been scammed one time. I have seen many scams going on Craigslist.

If you use PayPal to pay for your eBay purchase and are dealing with a verified PayPal member then your purchase should be covered by their protection policy, no?

[RIKanaka]

I, too, have purchased extensively on ebay, amazon and craigslist. I bought both my 1st CD, an '80 Typhoon for $1500 and my '88 CD26 several years later for $6000 on ebay. Both were relative steals. I purchased all sorts of hardware to repair, maintain or upgrade them from ebay over the years, as well as many other items. Likewise, from amazon and craigslist. I made sure that I didn't pay for the big tickt items (ie boats) until I has a chance to inspect them in person. Same with craigslist. Amazon usually stands by their vendors if not being purchased directly from amazon itself.

The one time I was the victim of a scam was when I purchased a CPU (athlon) about 15 years ago on ebay. Back then you could look up and contact other buyers who had dealt with a particular seller. I contacted other winner of the auction (seller supposedly had multiple CPUs available for the particular auction) and found out that they too had been waiting several weeks for the item to ship. I ended up contacting a cyber crimes detective in San Jose (where the seller lived) on behalf of all who were being ripped off and he personally paid a visit to the seller and made him send refunds to all the sellers!

One can be a victim of scams not matter where or how you shop (e.g., Target or Home Depot, recently). The key, regardless of how you use your credit card, is to monitor your statements frequently. I check my account weekly online to monitor for fraudulent charges. It drives my family nuts, my constant asking about purchases on the account that I don't recognize. It has even ruined a few surprises when gift purchases were prematurely revealed. But that's the price of being safe these days.

[RIKanaka]

BTW, thanks joemerchant for the timely warning.

[joemerchant]

I have sold 5 cars, two travel trailers, one RV, and 3 boats on Ebay since 2001. Bought a ton of stuff for the refit over the past 6 months, and only had one issue with a seller in all those years. I have had the typical people email and say they want to Western Union the money, or pay more for it and send them the difference with a cashier’s check, etc. This is the first time I have been taken on what looked like a valid transaction. I have had one issue a few times. Always remove your license plates when the new owner picks it up. I have received red light tickets, tolls, and even on investigation where the license plates from an RV I sold to a really nice couple in Oklahoma ended up on a pickup involved in a hit and run. Even though I sent the form to the DMV, I still had to waste time with an investigation. So, any other vehicle I sell, the plates come off.

---- Further Information ----

The seller, in this case, was just someone who thought they were hired as a distributer. They would sell an item on Ebay, and keep 30% commission. I received another item from go2marine on Friday. In talking with them, their fraud score was really low on the transaction. They used a different credit card as they did with Jamestown.

I got one email back from discount marine wanting me to pay for return shipping. Told them they can give me a call tag, send FedEx to pick it up, or I will drop it off at the Police Station, but not sending it back on my dime as I didn't order it, just in possession of their stolen property. That email was Thursday. Nothing against any marine source, but I would not buy from a company without a phone number and Discount Marine has been less than helpful in all of this. Jamestown and Go2Marine have been great.

Again, where the criminal made the mistake was having two items shipped and then emailing me that they made a mistake and welcome to keep the other one for 80% off of retail instead of shipping it back. The communication with the seller did not raise any red flags prior to that point as the email correspondence was from someone with a very good command of speaking and writing the English language. The credit card numbers they used were good and fresh with low fraud scores. They ordered the merchandise as if the credit card holder shipping to another address.

IF the criminal only sent one, I would not have noticed as I paid what the lowest prices were for wholesale on the item by checking other auctions, so it was not too good to be true. I would have installed it on the boat and it would probably be many months later, if at all that whoever they stole it from would start trying to track it back only with a name and address of me as shipping to. At that point, I would probably have to uninstall it from the boat and send it back to the vendor through the Police Department and be a suspect until they worked it all out.

Yes, Craigslist, ebay, et all are all mostly good, but there are a lot of scams and a great deal of stolen items sold.

Needless to say, what I learned from all of this is to never buy from a company on the Internet without a phone number. Discount Marine Supplies may be a great valid company, but they have no phone number and the little chat thing they have never has anyone available. They responded to one email.

[joemerchant]

Here they are at it again. http://www.ebay.com/itm/131346547696?_t ... EBIDX%3AIT

Same seller, same item.

[tjr818]

Here they are at it again. http://www.ebay.com/itm/131346547696?_t ... EBIDX%3AIT

Same seller, same item.

I notice that they are showing 100% positive feedback. I used to use that as a reliable gauge of an E-bay company. I will stop doing that.
You did give negative feedback, didn't you?

[Gary H]

Feedback is still a reliable indicator. A closer look tells you that they have a total of TWO people who have left feedback.

[David van den Burgh]

Feedback is still a reliable indicator. A closer look tells you that they have a total of TWO people who have left feedback.

And if you look even more closely, you'll notice that the feedback is as a BUYER, not a seller. That can make a big difference. I would not buy from an Ebay seller that has ZERO feedback as a seller. And since there are so many other sellers to choose from on Ebay, I wouldn't buy from a seller that has a minimal number of sales under his/her belt.