Sadly, it remains the case that brokers are occasionally contacted by bogus purchasers who wish to do nothing more than empty the contents of your bank account. There are three main types of scam which you need to watch out for:

• A potential buyer will write to you and agree the purchase price for a boat (e.g. £90,000). At the time of asking for your bank details, he will tell you that he is going to transfer £95,000 to you, then ask you to transfer the £5,000 balance to a 3rd party address to cover expenses such as shipping or customs. What they are hoping for is that you will send out the £5,000 before the £90,000 has fully cleared in your account.
• A potential buyer will write to you and agree the purchase price for a boat (e.g. £90,000). He will tell you he is transferring the deposit (normally 10%) into your account. However, as you are waiting for the transfer to arrive, he will tell you that he has had to pull out of the purchase of the boat and request that you send him his deposit back. What he is hoping for is that you will return his deposit before it has fully cleared in your account.
• The potential buyer may say that his bank has released a LETTER OF CREDIT (stating that the funds are en route) and therefore request that the boat may now change ownership.

Thankfully, these situations are rare and can be easily avoided with some simple housekeeping rules for your business.

• Do not send money out of your own account until you know that you have fully cleared funds.