How to Avoid Being Scammed and Identify Posers when Selling an Aircraft

It has previously been strongly advocated that aircraft sellers opt to appoint an aviation broker when selling their aircraft. The reason behind this is that experienced brokers have the knowledge and expertise to qualify prospective purchasers by simply asking a few questions to determine the validity of the possible deal, without wasting too much time. However, if you are going about the process of selling your aircraft yourself, we need to look at what could be considered “red flags” to look out for, establishing whether the possible transaction is a reality, or just a means of parting you with your most valued asset and sometimes hard-earned money.

According to the Oxford Dictionary a scammer can be defined as a person who commits fraud and participates in dishonest schemes. This reminds me of the word scamper, which means “to run away”. This is exactly what scammers these days do – they fraudulently take your money and run!

Posers on the other hand are equalled to exhibitionists, which means that they behave in such a manner that they extravagantly attract attention to themselves.

Now that we have identified the two types of characters that we are dealing with, we can move on.

Before we do this, we have to keep in mind that social circumstances have changed rapidly throughout the years. Scammers can now hide behind the anonymity of social media, creating profiles for themselves that do not exist but may appear to be legit. Therefore, we shall pay attention to the scammers in the earlier segment of this article and then turn our focus on to the posers.

How do I know that my prospective purchaser is not a scammer?

Whether it is an individual or aircraft broker interested in the acquisition of your aircraft, you have to make sure that you ensure the following:

Verify whether this person or broker is real. This can be achieved by doing a quick Google, Facebook, Instagram, or social media platform search. Pay careful attention to the lifespan of the profile’s existence. Should the profile not have been in use for very long, it should raise concerns.

The same strategic research must absolutely be applied to brokers who offer to take your asset off your hands. There have been many incidences in the past where brokers have had sellers made to believe that they intend on purchasing their aircraft, but simply do not have the means of paying for said aircraft. These are the types of brokers referred to as “cowboys” looking to flip an aircraft at the expense of the owner and making a quick buck. Make sure that you are dealing with a reputable agency by thoroughly checking their credentials.

The buyer is offering more than my asking price. Is he for real?

If it sounds too good to be true, it normally is! Avoid situations like these. You might find yourself in a state of exhilaration because someone is offering you more than what you are asking for, but this is exactly the bait the scammers use to con you into their integrate web of lies and deception.

All documentation has been signed and I have received proof of payment. Should I handover that aircraft to the buyer?

No, never! Do not accept a bank transfer confirmation letter on face value. Rather be vigilant and request a letter from their bank validating the existence of the account. Follow up with the bank and confirm whether the verification letter is real. Ensure that all funds have been received, cleared and confirmed by the bank. Never relinquish any property to anyone before having absolute certainty that the person and the bank details are real.

The buyer is asking for a documentation fee. Should I pay it?

Absolutely not. Unless you have absolute certainty that the funds transferred from the buyer to the seller is well established in your account, avoid falling prey to this scam. You should only be responsible for outstanding landing fees, ATC fees etc. which are payable to the entities from whom the invoice is received from.

The buyer is unavailable to meet and has an excuse of why he is unable to attend every meeting and avoids phone calls by commuting only via messaging and e-mail. What should I do?

This should raise some awareness of fraudulence taking place right here. I have never met anyone unwilling to communicate on a truthful level, either by voice or modern time video call when they have something to hide.

I’ve sent the prospective purchaser an amount of money, but now he is “ghosting” me. What can I do?

Unfortunately, there is not very much you can do once this has occurred. You have the option of filing a complaint with your bank claiming a fraudulent transaction, which could take a couple of weeks or even months to resolve. Many victims feel utterly ashamed being taken advantage of and humiliated.

How do I deal with the aftermath of being scammed?

As human beings this is natural, and we tend to keep these types of experiences to ourselves to avoid looking and feeling foolish. We live in a society where we are very easily judged, creating a feeling of helplessness. When you have been scammed, be assured that you are not the only, first, or last to ever be the victim of this utter cruelty.  My best advice is to talk about this incident, your feelings and experience to someone or people close to you. If need be, enlist the service of a professional to help you through this. Also, always remember – you have been duped and that does not make you stupid!

I would like to share with you not a question, but a real incident. I hope this makes you feel better:

A few years ago, an elderly gentleman had a young gentleman enter his office looking to purchase a single engine aircraft, equipped to land on tarmac runways and dirt strips, with the capacity of transporting at least four passengers on medium haul flights at not too much operating cost. This young man signed an Offer to Purchase and made a down payment as deposit as agreed upon by both parties. Everything seemed to be in order, therefore the elder gentlemen agreed to have the younger man conduct a test flight of the aircraft on his own. Boy, oh, boy was this a mistake! The young man took off from a certain aerodrome, flew the aircraft for at least 200 hours at his own pleasure and peril, only to the return the aircraft to the elderly gentleman over a year later! Many court procedures and after much litigation, did the elder gentleman receive his rightful asset back!

Now we are going to deal with my favourite topic! How to distinguish the poser from the real McCoy!

The reason why I love this topic so much is because I have seen and dealt with so many characters over the years that I have many incidents that I can share with you! In this part of the article, I am not doing the normal Question and Answer, but I shall keep it to a narrative, which I hope might find similarity to your encounters, or might shed some light on meetings that you might have or events that left you gasping at your own breath!

Imagine the scenario: It’s late Wednesday afternoon. This is the day that is notorious for doctors, lawyers, and professionals to be out-and-about playing golf. You are just about to leave your office when you receive a phone call from one of your “prospective buyers”. These guys have just completed their round on the golf course, and they are happily celebrating the end of their day with a beer or some sort of alcoholic beverage. Your “prospect” is accompanied by his buddies in the club. Because he has an audience, he decides to call you to “discuss the purchase of his aircraft”. What do you do? Answer all of the thousands of questions he asked before, well knowing in the back of your mind you know that this guy (or for that matter, woman) is never going to purchase an aircraft from you? That is exactly what you do!

I have also been privileged (sarcastically) to encounter a prospective buyer that has signed numerous OTPs with me, without ever buying one aircraft from me in the course of twenty-one years! Whilst this person has frequented my office numerous of times, accompanied by investors, possible partners and the like, even going so far as to order Pre-Purchase Inspections (for his own account, which he never paid for, mind you!) to make these deals seem legit. Therefore, be aware of the “Posers” that are no more than “Whistling-Go-Fors” and “Tyre-Kickers”.

Disclaimer: this article was written by an author that has over 20 years of experience in the aviation industry. This article does not reflect the opinion of AvPay in any form whatsoever. The information contained in this publicised matter are believed to be dependable.