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Nautical Themed Internet Scams

Internet scams have been around as long as the internet. Many are so ludicrous that you actually get a chuckle from reading the broken English begging you to send $10,000 in exchange for the $1 million you’ll receive shortly. Uh huh. But others are a little more tricksy.

In the December 5 ‘Lectronic, we ran Rene Pittsey’s warning about a scam he nearly fell for while trying to sell his boat: The "Prince of Dubai" sent him a cashier’s check for $92,000 more than the asking price for his boat, which of course the "Prince" wanted back. A simple variation on the infamous ‘419 Fraud’ or ‘Nigerian Scam’ that, thankfully, Pittsey quickly recognized.

But two new nautical scams have been brought to our attention by readers. Bob Willmann of the San Diego-based F/P Casamance 44 Viva reports that someone hacked into his email, sending urgent letters to friends and family claiming he was starving and in need of cash. "While the latter might be true," Willmann joked, "I didn’t send that note." The hacker had managed to change the password, which made it difficult for Willmann to get the word out not to send money to the scammer. "Honest, I’m fine. Viva is sitting in crystal clear water in Roatan, where the rum is strong, the beer is cold, the local women are young and pretty, and the cruiser community is wonderful."

The other apparent scam was brought to our attention by professional yacht crew Randy Getty. The email he received claimed that the captain of a fleet of yachts saw his resume and would like to hire him for $90,000 a year, sight unseen. Oh, but you have to work with our ‘travel consultant’ to qualify. While no specific requests are made in the initial email, it’s easy to assume that some sort of ‘compensation’ would have to be paid and/or banking information supplied to the ‘consultant’. He reports that several of these fake ‘job offers’ have found their way into his mailbox and hopes others seeking maritime employment will be wary of such scams.

Cliché though it may be, the old adage stands true: If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.

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