Staying Safe Online

Fortunately, most boat buyers and sellers are genuine, but online scams targeting high-value private sales are becoming more sophisticated and harder to spot, with AI tools now allowing scammers to generate convincing fake listings, professional-looking websites and personalised messages at scale. The fundamentals of staying safe haven’t changed, but knowing what the modern threat looks like helps you protect yourself.

How Boats Online operates

We wish to uphold BoatsOnline's and YachtHub's reputation as a dependable website for buying and selling boats and hope this information helps. When buying a boat which is listed on BoatsOnline, you deal directly with the boat seller. Beware of scammers who tell you that the transaction will be done through BoatsOnline.

Boatsonline is NOT involved in the transaction between boat buyer and boat seller and we will NEVER send you an invoice to complete the transaction.

If you're a BoatsOnline and/or YachtHub member, we will only contact you by email. Any SMS we do send will show the sender as "Boatsonline" or "Yachthub" - not a mobile number. If you receive a text claiming to be from us that comes from a mobile number, it's a scam - please ignore it, and don't click any links, log in, or make a payment. Note that potential buyers may still contact you by SMS from their own mobile number - that's normal. The warning above is specifically about texts pretending to be from BoatsOnline or YachtHub.

How AI Is Changing the Scam Landscape

Not long ago, online scams were relatively easy to spot: poor grammar, blurry images, implausible prices. That has changed. AI tools now allow scammers to generate professional-looking listings and websites in a matter of hours, write convincing personalised messages that reference real details about your location or preferred boat type, produce AI chatbots that can answer follow-up questions around the clock without a human behind them, and create fake customer reviews and testimonials that appear genuine. ASIC chair Sarah Court warned that a simple online search is no longer enough to verify whether an opportunity is legitimate, and that polished content, familiar branding and convincing testimonials are not a guarantee of legitimacy on their own.

For boat buyers, the most common AI-assisted scam patterns to watch for are fake listings using stolen photos and descriptions from real boats on legitimate platforms, typically reposted on Facebook Marketplace or social media at below-market prices, with the seller claiming to be relocating overseas or unable to show the boat in person. If you find a listing that looks too good to be true, do a reverse image search on the photos using Google Images or TinEye to check whether the same photos appear elsewhere.

The Classic Scams Still Operate Too

Alongside AI-powered fraud, the more traditional scams that have always targeted online boat buyers and sellers continue to run. The bogus buyer scam is one of the most common for sellers: the buyer offers to pay more than your asking price, sends a cheque or bank transfer and asks you to pay them the difference or cover ‘shipping costs’. The cheque then bounces or the bank transfer fails, and you are out of pocket. Never pay any money to a buyer under any circumstances.

The fake listing scam continues to catch buyers: a seller lists a boat they don’t own, asks for a down payment to hold it so you don’t miss out, and then disappears with your money. The listing may use stolen photos of a real boat and a price just low enough to seem like a genuine bargain. For advice on writing a safe, effective listing as a seller, see our guide on selling your boat: tips for a better ad.

Scammers posing as buyers may also ask you to purchase a fake inspection report or history check through a link they provide, typically costing $20–$100. This is a scam to steal your credit card details. 

Legitimate background checks (such as checking for finance owing) are conducted via the official government PPSR website, which costs a couple of dollars. History checks and Inspection Reports are always the buyer's responsibility.

Protecting Yourself When Buying

Before you hand over any money, insist on seeing the boat in person and completing a thorough sea trial. No legitimate seller will refuse a reasonable inspection or sea trial request. If a seller claims the boat is stored interstate, overseas or in a facility that can’t be accessed, treat that as a red flag. If an in-person visit is genuinely not possible, a live video call showing the boat and its surroundings in real time is a reasonable minimum, though be aware that even video can be manipulated using deepfake technology. Physical inspection remains the strongest protection.

This is also one of the reasons why buying through a reputable boat dealer or broker offers greater peace of mind: professional dealers operate trust accounts, are accountable, and are far harder to impersonate or fake than a private listing.

Reporting Scams

If you believe you have encountered a scam, report it to ScamWatch, the government authority set up to help Australians recognise, avoid and report scams (or use ScamWatch New Zealand). ASIC also takes reports of investment-related scams and fake financial platforms at its website. Reporting scams helps regulators identify patterns and take down fraudulent sites more quickly. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s overview of your rights is also worth reading if a purchase goes wrong.

Frequently Asked Questions