Scams: Avoid them using common sense!
As many of you know, it has been two years now since we began our lifestyle change adventure. Our house in Alabama still has not sold. As a result, we are tightening the belt, so to speak, even more so. One thing we are in the process of doing is trying to sell our boat. We used the boat for water skiing at least every other weekend in Alabama! There are many fun memories of family times together centered around that boat. But, realistically, we have not used it since bringing it out here to west Texas. There are three main reasons: expense, time and lack of water in close proximity.
We have the boat listed on Craigslist and have had quite a bit of interest. . We are waiting on the Texas title and are very deliberate to tell people. Most are willing to wait and we are taking it on a first come first serve basis. One interested party brought back memories of a scam I fell victim to. This particular lady wanted to purchase it without the title, paying cash and having only a bill of sale until the title comes. My husband assured her that we are honest, we trust us - but should she?
Many years ago, I was also naively trusting of a seller. He was selling a beautiful commercial stove. I went to look it at it alone (mistake #1), payed for it in full (mistake #2) and made arrangments to pick it up in a week (mistake #3). Yes, you guessed it, there was no stove when we went to pick it up! What a scam! The seller filed bankrupcy and I was left without my money and no stove! Sad, but a good lesson learned.
Unfortunately, in this day and time, people are not always as they appear, scams are everywhere. Craigslist even has scam warnings on their site attesting to their prevalence. I am not saying to distrust everyone. But, use caution, common sense and seek counsel (take someone else with you/get a second opinion). If an opportunity seems to good to be true… it probably is!
