BST: Beware of internet fraud when selling your boat.

[Andrea Todaro]

I listed my trawler for sale by owner on the internet.  Within days I had an offer from a person in London, claiming to have a client interested in my boat.  After asking some questions about the engines and the bottom dollar price, (which give the impression it could be legitimate) he made an offer.   His scam goes like this:  He offeres to send a cashiers check for $30,000 as a deposit.  I am supposed to tranfer $10,000 of that to his agent to cover his expenses of coming here to check out the boat.  Of course, my $10,000 will be long gone by the time the bank notifies me that his cashier's check was bogus, which can take ten days.
  This scam is common in used car sales on the internet, but it has moved into boats too.
  SELLER BEWARE!   Don't take out of state cashiers checks, and don't give out your bank info for supposed wire transfers.  I know you've heard it before, but there are still people who think cashier's checks are just as good as cash.