Beware the Prince of Dubai!

[TaoJones]

Over a twenty year period, Rene and Dorie Pittsey of San Jose, California built a 43'9" ketch in their backyard. Using plans they bought from Bruce Roberts, the Pittseys version of his Mauritius 43 aft-cabin, center cockpit ketch took form slowly but with careful attention to every detail. Along the way, they had the evolving vessel professionally surveyed to verify the integrity of their building process.

For example, the Pittseys wrote the following in their Morning Star building blog:

"The bulkheads are mahogany plywood and are set against a lateral stringer along the hull surface so that the ply never touches the hull to create a hard spot. The bulkheads are glassed to the hull then through bolted through the glass lay up. The surveyor called it belt and suspenders, but very strong. Much stronger than his boat."

A 140-ton crane was necessary to lift the vessel out of their backyard, up and over their house and onto a flat-bed truck for splashing at an Alameda shipyard. That was a day in early November, 1995.

Sadly, circumstances today have compelled the Pittseys to sell their lovingly created vessel. But that's where the story gets interesting. From last Friday's 'Lectronic Latitude, comes word of a "Dubai Prince" who wanted to buy Morning Star, sight unseen:

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Seller Beware!

December 5, 2008 – Nigeria, Dubai and Your Computer

" . . . with the recent market crash, we were getting desperate. So when we received an inquiry from a prince in Dubai that didn't ask for bank information, we got a little excited . . ."

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To read the 'Lectronic Latitude account in its entirety, go to:

Latitude 38 - The West's Premier Sailing & Marine Magazine

TaoJones

[GordMay]

Gee - if you can’t trust a prince in Dubai, who can you trust.
Thanks for the heads up.

[Southern Star]

When I was in the process of selling my last boat a year ago I received a similar email offer - it was so patently absurd that I didn't bother responding. Lets face it, nobody is going to purchase an expensive vessel from afar, site unseen and without price negotations.

Brad

[SouthernComfort]

It is amazing that this type of scam is still going strong, and is still successful sometimes.

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by SouthernComfort

It is amazing that this type of scam is still going strong, and is still successful sometimes.

Can you give an example of a successful scam, of this type?

[SouthernComfort]

It is a twist off the old Nigerian counterfeit check scam. Like found on the link. It happens alot on auction websites. They try and buy an item that did not sell but send you a cashiers check that is for more than the amount you are require. You send the difference back to them before the check is found to be counterfeit.

I have never heard of it being successful on such a big transaction as the one in this post though.


Nigerian Scam FRAUD ALERTS