Me and Mr Jones

I placed an advert for a secondhand 49er recently, with an asking price of £5200. So imagine my surprise and delight when within a day of the advert going online, I received an offer for £9700 from a buyer in Switzerland. Mr Jones, for that was his name, asked me to send him some photos of the boat to make sure he was happy with what he was buying before sending the money.

I sent him some photos. This was Mr Jones's response.

"Thanks for the pics, I really love the pictures. So I will contact my client in the UK to issue you a cheque of 9700 pounds so that the excess fund will be meant for an orphanage home I used to donate for every month. If my term is acceptable, kindly mail me back as soon as possible.

  Regards...."

Were his terms acceptable? Of course it was. Mr Jones was going to pay me the full amount for the boat unseen, and it goes without saying that as a good citizen I would be only too pleased to pass on the remaining amount on to the orphanage. What a decent and trusting fellow this Mr Jones is, I thought. He doesn't know me from Adam and he's going to send me all this money!

There was something just very slightly fishy about all of this. I can't quite put my finger on what it was that raised my suspicions. Perhaps it was the fact that he was offering nearly double the money I was asking? Yes, that might have had something to do with it. So when in doubt, turn to Google, and indeed, it didn't take much of a sniff around the oracle of all worldly knowledge - throwing in a few keywords like ‘orphanage scam' and such like - to see that I was very likely being lined up for a right royal fleecing.

I rang up my bank and told them what had happened, and they said it had all the hallmarks of a ‘419 scam'. Just type that into Google and you'll see what it's all about, but it goes like this. Mr Jones, or whoever your scammer is, offers to send you a cheque for more than you were asking, you then bank the cheque. The funds show up in your bank account the next day - although this is the crucial bit that the scammers exploit - it takes five working days for most cheques to go through the clearing cycle.

On day four the scammer gets in touch in a desperate panic, saying the orphanage is about to close and all the kids will be thrown out on the street unless you send the money immediately! So you do the charitable thing and transfer the money, only to discover on day five of the clearing cycle that the original cheque from the scammer has bounced. Meanwhile you're out of pocket with no way of getting your money back.

Having become pretty certain that Mr Jones was such a scammer, I've still kept our email conversation going, out of journalistic curiosity more than anything else. I've asked if he could call me or if he could give me a phone number to call. He provided a number beginning 070.., which looks a bit like a mobile phone number but is actually a personal number. There's nothing dodgy or illegal about personal numbers in themselves, but it was just another thing that aroused further suspicion.

We're about six weeks in to our email conversation now, and apparently a cheque has turned up at home while I'm away on a long trip abroad. So unfortunately I was unable to help Mr Jones when he asked if I could urgently forward £700 (why only £700?) on to the orphanage. I asked if he could provide a telephone number for the orphanage, which also had an 070.. personal number. Clearly the orphanage wasn't expecting to stay in one place for too long, a bit like Mr Jones. Suffice it to say, no one has answered any of my phone calls.

Anyway, I don't know who's going to get bored first in the phoney war between me and Mr Jones, but I thought I'd let you know that the scammers are out there. In fact, the second enquiry I received about the boat also bore many similarities to a scammer, but he (can't remember his name) was less persistent than Mr Jones and I haven't heard from him lately. My bank told me they've heard of lots of instances of people selling secondhand cars being caught in 419 scams, but it sounds like they're on their way into our world. Caveat vendor. You have been warned.

Remembering Glyn

Working at the America's Cup Acts in Valencia recently, I caught up with Mark Covell who was doing radio commentary (which you can listen to at www.americascup.com whenever the Act regattas are playing). Mark is best known for winning Silver with Ian Walker in the Star at the Olympics. That photo of Mark and Ian punching the air in delight, surfing back home after the last race, is still my favourite ever Yachts and Yachting cover shot. Mark teamed up with Ian in the Star after the death of Glyn Charles in the Sydney Hobart Race, and Mark remembers his old friend and helmsman with fondness. "A group of us used to go out mountain biking a lot on the South Downs, and we'd go biking with wives, girlfriends and so on," says Mark. "Glyn was super fit so he'd always get to the top of the hill first, but when he got there he'd go back down to the last person, put a hand on their back, and help them up the hill. He was like a terrier." Mark says Glyn was always competitive but always enthusiastic about helping others out.

Mark says that same spirit of competition combined with helping others is what the Glyn Charles Memorial Pursuit Race is all about. There are prizes up for grabs not just for the winners but for sailors throughout the fleet. Many of Glyn's friends have worked hard to make this a big event over the past few years, and it attracts sailors of all abilities. Iain Percy and Steve Mitchell even took the Star to the event a couple of years ago, and as I recall, they finished about 60th. So if you fancy the chance of beating an Olympic Champion, perhaps this regatta is your opportunity. It takes place this year on Saturday, 17 June, at Hayling Island Sailing Club. As always, Glyn's old friend Mark Rushall is heavily involved in pulling the event together, and if you want to find out more, you can visit Mark's website: http://www.rushall.demon.co.uk/mark/glyn_charles_pursuit_race.htm

Solos are 50

This seems to be the year of the anniversary, and for the Solos it is their 50th. Jack Holt's classic singlehander appears to be going stronger than ever, and the class has a number of activities to celebrate the Solo's golden jubilee.

The Solos have taken a leaf out of the Fireball class association's book, and put together a brand new boat, Solo No. 5000, which every paid-up member of the Association has a chance to win in a prize draw at the Inland Nationals, taking place at Rutland Water on 17/18 June. Like the Fireball that was raffled at last year's Worlds, Solo 5000 has been put together with the generous support of many different suppliers and sponsors, including Winder, Selden, North Sails, and fittingly enough, for the supply of the fittings - Holt.

The Inlands is the big 50th birthday bash for the Solo, but there is also a Champion of Champions event due to take place on Saturday, 5 August at Felpham Sailing Club. This one-day event is preceded by the 2006 Nationals, also at Felpham, thereby giving competitors ample time to practise. Entry is limited to helms who have achieved a top five finish in any Solo World, UK National or UK Inland championship along with sailors who have achieved a top three finish in the Dutch Nationals. 

The Solo is very popular in the Netherlands, and president of the Dutch Solo Association Alex Rijnink got in touch to tell me about the Nation's Cup, due to take place at Lake Garda on 18-21 July. This event has been going on for many years, a friendly battle between the best British and Dutch sailors at venues either side of the Channel. Then in 2004 the Dutch Association had the smart idea of holding the event in Garda - even though there isn't much in the way of Solo sailing in Italy. And why not? I'm just about to head down to Garda for the third year running to sail the International 14 with Martin Jones. If your class doesn't make the pilgrimage to Garda then you are really missing out. Once experienced, the wind, waves and wine of Lake Garda are irresistible.