Security Center
An excellent resource for information regarding internet scams and fraud is the Internet Crime Complaint Center (a partnership between the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C), and the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA)). Be sure to visit this site if you suspect any fraudulent activity.
Current scams on the internet
- Current scam: The seller claims to be in the US military and wants to ship the boat. Never buy a boat without seeing it in person, verifying the seller owns the boat, and personally taking delivery of it.
- Current scam: The seller claims to be selling the boat through an arrangement with Ebay and the vehicle protection program. This is a scam.
Information about our website security
- We have designed our site to keep your personal information safe from potential computer hackers or spammers looking for email addresses and other information using reasonable measures available and known to us including encryption and authentication tools. Another way we safeguard your information is that we require only the minimal personal information from you. The only personal information we require is your email address and cruisingsailboat.org password and those are well guarded.
- We use the services of a name you know well and can trust (Paypal™) to handle all of your financial information. We never have access to any of this critical information.
Some other common internet scams to be wary of:
- Neither cruisingsailboat.org or our parent company, Chase Software Services Inc, will ever be involved in any transactions between buyer and seller. Therefore if a potential buyer contacts you regarding such an arrangement or you receive an email claiming we are involved it is a fraudulent offer.
- We will never send you an email asking for any of your personal information. Any email claiming to be from us that asks for personal information or bank information is fraudulent.
- Be wary of potential buyers contacting you and asking for personal information. Never give your credit card, Paypal account information, bank account number or any other financial information to others.
- Fake cashiers checks, money orders and certified checks are common. Verify them before you accept them. Also be aware that it is possible to put a stop payment order on a cashiers, bank or certified check.
- Nevery send money to an offshore banking location.
- Never send money to a potential buyer on the promise of a sale or potential sale. This is a common scam in use.
- We will never contact you offering any additional services or optional features. Any such offer is fraudulent activity.
- Consider the use of a reputable escrow company such as www.escrow.com to handle your monetary transactions if appropriate.
If you have any doubts or concerns about a transaction do not do it. You should always be cautious when buying or selling with an unknown individual. Remember the old adage, 'if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is'.
Please contact us if you believe that one of our users is engaged in fraudulent activity and send us the URL (the complete website address) for the ad in question.