Adam Embry, his wife and three children were ecstatic to start the summer. After all, they had found their dream boat.
"It all looked legit, we thought it was legit, 100 percent,” said Embry.
Initially discovered on Craigslist, the family decided to purchase a 2007 Starcraft Aurora 2010 deck boat for $2,500. The buyer claimed she was from the Kansas City area but had recently moved to Georgia.
"She said that she's going through a divorce and got stuck with this boat and wanted to get rid of it fast,” said Embry.
The family was instructed to pay through eBay Motors for security and protection. However, in order to process they payment, they were also instructed to pay with prepaid debit cards.
"It said to make sure you get the loaded ones that you load money onto,” said Embry.
Two days after the money was sent, the Embrys knew they had been scammed.
"It feels like you kinda let your kids down … That money was our tax money we had. We don't have a fortune. We work hard for our money,” said Embry.
According to the father, Raymore police told him this kind of crime is a “dime a dozen,” especially in the summer time.
41 Action News reached out to eBay, who sent the following response:
“I can confirm that this was not sent by eBay. Fraudsters unfortunately try to find ways to trick Internet users by exploiting eBay’s name, logo and reputation. They use this exploit to lure potential buyers off of safe and secure e-commerce platforms utilizing email messages. As our eBay Money Back Guarantee program is only available for items purchased through the eBay site using one of our approved payment methods upon checkout, off-site transactions are not covered under any of our buyer protection policies.
"Given the above, we simply have no way to offer Money Back coverage for a transaction occurring off-site. As such, it is incredibly important to ensure that transactions are being conducting through the eBay website/platform - not through email correspondence.
Additionally, it’s an absolute red flag anytime you’re being asked email your gift card codes for payment - a form of payment we would never ask for. As the funds tied to the codes are untraceable, this is a preferred payment method for fraudsters.”
The Better Business Bureau of Kansas City also says they see this kind of scheme frequently.
"They're going to spin some kind of tale that makes you think they need to get rid of stuff, you can get a good deal from them, whatever that story may be. Usually it's recently divorced, need to move, have to move soon, things like that,” said BBB Manager Aaron Reese.
"If you cannot actually physically touch the object, don't give any money, ever,” he said.
Reese gave the following tips when it comes to making online purchases:
- Pay with your own credit card. "They're going to ask for Green Dot cards, prepaid credit cards, cashier checks or traveler's checks, those are the main things scammers want because you can never retrieve that money … Credit card is usually the best way to go because you can challenge the charge, dispute the charge and get that money back a lot of the time,” said Reese.
- If you have to, only use payment systems you’re familiar with.
- Wordy confirmations are red flags. "If PayPal is going to send any kind of confirmation, they're going to be very brief. A short confirmation. If you see some kind of confirmation that's very wordy, that's a red flag,” he said.
- For major purchases, only buy what you can touch. "If they can't directly interact with the person, in-person that's selling it, they probably should just avoid doing it,” he said.
- Scammers have a storyline. "Whenever someone says that they are out of town, or if they have just recently moved and can't get back to sell the item, it's usually a scam,” he said.
EBay also recommends the following if you feel you have become a victim to an online scam.
- Contact the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3).
- Contact local law enforcement in your area and in the area where the seller lives.
- If the police investigate, eBay says the company is happy to help them. To locate law enforcement and report the transaction, visit: http://www.usacops.com
- Additionally, eBay says that the company works closely with law enforcement, consumer affairs and regulatory agencies to help keep eBay a safe place to buy and sell. Should law enforcement assist, please direct the assisting officer to the following address: http://pages.ebay.com/securitycenter/LawEnforcementCenter.html
Other tips to recognize whether or not a email from eBay is real or not can be found here.
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