What a scam!!

[knotflying]

I received an official looking notice in the mail regarding my documentation renewal. It came in an official looking envelope from the Maritime Documentation Center. I suspected this was not fully legit. I went to the site and boy does it look official. They even have their URL ending in .US. So you fill out the form and at the very end the fee is listed at $75.00. The real fee is $26.00. And how nice of them, I can sign up for automatic renewals. I know this has been mentioned before, but I figured I would bring it up again for any unsuspecting owners. The Address they use is maritimedocumentation.us/ I did not even post this as an actual link so as to avoid you getting directed there with an inadvertent click.

 

[BB marine]

I get a notice every year from them. I use it as my reminder to go to Pay.Gov USCG Vessel Documentation Payment Form and pay the $26.00 fee. I wonder how many people fall for that scam?

 

[baz]

Thanks.... it's a very cunning scam and suspect people do fall for it in large numbers.It makes me wonder how this scam stays alive these days.

See https://coastguardnews.com/boater-beware-vessel-documentation-fraud-lurks-online/2017/10/16/

 

[NorthernFocus]

There is a similar situation when you go on-line to renew your passport. Looks just like the official website all the way through the process until you go to pay the fee and it's an extra $50.

 

[baz]

I think the official US passport renewal fee is $110.... and I have to renew mine shortly. You can download an official PDF form that can be filled out on the computer and then mailed to Passport Office which should be tracked to ensure delivery.

 

[Crewdog]

Don't forget about the "Ofiicial Looking" envelopes from the Vehicle Processing Center for extended warranties....

And medical device scams.....

Fraudulent IRS collection calls threatening arrest......

Spoofed emails from a friend's email address saying they're in jail in another country needing cash......

Big Data and AARP have your info, and are selling it.

 

[stwendl]

Let's get this a bit into perspective. Just to clarify, I have no relation ship to any of those services.

So the registration "service" charge $70+ for some thing that costs you only $26 if you do it directly. About a 200% markup.

If I go to a restaurant and order a bottle of alcohol free beer I get charged about $5-$6. I can get the same bottle for under $2 at bevMo. About 200% markup.

My local dealer ship charges me for a pressure sensor $150 which I can get for about $60 from the oem supplier. About a 200% markup.

Same stealer ship charges almost $300 + taxes and installation for a crankcase filter. OEM cost $98 from mopar, about a 200% markup.

A local kid buys bottles of water at $.50 and sells it at a $1.50 at a hot day to thirsty by standers. markup about 200%.

Someone manages to sell you some service, and when you try to use the service it does not exist. "%100" markup, no value.

Ship brokerage, 10% of value sales commission, + 10% sales tax, + 1%/year property tax.

So which of those are scammers or not. We are easily applying labels to some even so they just do what other businesses have done for a long while and which we seem to accept (restaurant, kid, dealership).

However, in the case of the registration, they may some laws broken. In a recent case in california, some "creative" mind registered tons DMV appointments and then sold the time slots to others. In california it is apparently illegal to resell government services. Perhaps this applies to federal services (if we can call them that way) as well 🙂

 

[tugnnaweigh]

Dealing with a finance broker she said they use a company to document vessels and it's $450, needless to say I did it myself.

 

[knotflying]

Let's get this a bit into perspective. Just to clarify, I have no relation ship to any of those services.

So the registration "service" charge $70+ for some thing that costs you only $26 if you do it directly. About a 200% markup.

If I go to a restaurant and order a bottle of alcohol free beer I get charged about $5-$6. I can get the same bottle for under $2 at bevMo. About 200% markup.

My local dealer ship charges me for a pressure sensor $150 which I can get for about $60 from the oem supplier. About a 200% markup.

Same stealer ship charges almost $300 + taxes and installation for a crankcase filter. OEM cost $98 from mopar, about a 200% markup.

A local kid buys bottles of water at $.50 and sells it at a $1.50 at a hot day to thirsty by standers. markup about 200%.

Someone manages to sell you some service, and when you try to use the service it does not exist. "%100" markup, no value.

Ship brokerage, 10% of value sales commission, + 10% sales tax, + 1%/year property tax.

So which of those are scammers or not. We are easily applying labels to some even so they just do what other businesses have done for a long while and which we seem to accept (restaurant, kid, dealership).

However, in the case of the registration, they may some laws broken. In a recent case in california, some "creative" mind registered tons DMV appointments and then sold the time slots to others. In california it is apparently illegal to resell government services. Perhaps this applies to federal services (if we can call them that way) as well 🙂

I think you may have missed the point. The "Scam" I was referring to was the fact that all the material looks very much like an official notice from the Coast Guard. Using your restaurant and bottle of wine scenario, When I walk into a restaurant I expect to pay premium for service. However, if I walk into a place that looks exactly like my house and ask someone for a glass of wine that looks exactly like my wife and then she charges me for it, I would be very surprised. :? I expect a lot of good comments to follow on this one! :lol:

 

[Red Raven]

According to Webster’s,

“scam: a fraudulent or deceptive act or operation”

The key word in this case I think is “deceptive” which it certainly is. Not sure if it is fraudulent but it’s pretty darn close!

I’m with Mike on this one!

 

[Trisailor]

I almost fell for the official looking letter I got in the mail. Thankfully, previous posts on this forum had already forewarned me, so after an amused moment of reflection and a brief moment of appreciation of how nice those folks were to offer such a nice service; I went online to the Coast Guard and did my own renewal. Now, as long as the folks calling me about the arrest warrant for my IRS problem don't come knocking at the door....Maybe I'll just go hangout on the boat and they won't find me.

 

[stwendl]

Of course it’s a deceptive operation and there are many around. However, let’s say they charged only $5 above the coastguard fee, would the recipient of the note be as upset? Perhaps not. The business landscape is full of such scam artists and snake oil charmers. For one they may be hard to catch or the laws have loopholes one can drive a truck thru and often victims are too embarrassed to admit falling for the scam. I am sure the paper one receives on that service has some fine print stating so. If it looks like an official letter one can get them on copyright infringements. The government has to initiate this and to them these are fish to small to fry. Some people may be constantly looking for the government to protect them from any such harm and expect an environment where one does not have to worry about getting scammed. Well, that paradise does not exist. One has to constantly look out for oneself or be part of some community that shares such info 🙂

 

[Navigator's Son]

I received an official looking notice in the mail regarding my documentation renewal. It came in an official looking envelope from the Maritime Documentation Center. I suspected this was not fully legit. I went to the site and boy does it look official. They even have their URL ending in .US. So you fill out the form and at the very end the fee is listed at $75.00. The real fee is $26.00. And how nice of them, I can sign up for automatic renewals.

So the question becomes this - at any point in the documentation or on their web page do they CLEARLY state they are providing you a service?

If they conveniently left that key piece of information out, then it is a scam - intentionally devised to deceive you.

 

[Bruce Moore]

So the question becomes this - at any point in the documentation or on their web page do they CLEARLY state they are providing you a service?

If they conveniently left that key piece of information out, then it is a scam - intentionally devised to deceive you.

The statement below appears immediately above payment information. There is a check-box acknowledging the statement. It is checked by default but can be un-checked.

I understand that my application will be processed in the order in which it is received by Maritime Documentation Center, a private fee for service documentation company, not owned or operated by any governmental agency.

Not endorsing the practice. Caveat emptor.

Cheers,

Bruce

 

[jerrygeisenheimer]

Has anyone been to a "Dollar Store" lately? The shelves are filled with products packaged to look very much like the leading brands but are cheap substitutes. Are we being scammed? Buyer beware. Jerry

 

[JusDreamin]

I just wanted to thank the collective wisdom on Tugnuts. We received a documentation renewal letter from Maritime Documentation Center this week. I remembered reading about this on TN, did a search, found the discussion and followed Barry's link to the USCG update on companies charging high rates for this service. Thank you to everyone that commented and helped us save some money. Even more importantly, to us, we did not contribute to a business that uses misleading information to sell services. On a related note, I did find out that recreational vessels, can renew their documentation for multiple years at the USCG website. https://content.govdelivery.com/account ... ns/2291786

Tim & Cynthia
Epiphany C28
Camano Island, WA

 

[baz]

I just wanted to thank the collective wisdom on Tugnuts. We received a documentation renewal letter from Maritime Documentation Center this week. I remembered reading about this on TN, did a search, found the discussion and followed Barry's link to the USCG update on companies charging high rates for this service. Thank you to everyone that commented and helped us save some money. Even more importantly, to us, we did not contribute to a business that uses misleading information to sell services. On a related note, I did find out that recreational vessels, can renew their documentation for multiple years at the USCG website. https://content.govdelivery.com/account ... ns/2291786

Tim & Cynthia
Epiphany C28
Camano Island, WA

Yes that ref also states....
"The NVDC is aware there are commercial entities that offer to manage the certification and renewal process on behalf of vessel owners for a fee. The Coast Guard does not endorse any of these companies, and the companies do not operate on behalf of the Coast Guard in any way. The services they provide are legal, but the certificates issued are not deemed in compliance."

...which tells me the commercial service maybe legit but the certificates issued by them aren't in compliance. If this is correct then a boat owner will need to spend another $26 to obtain a legit certificate.

As an aside.... I did once use the commercial service one year and within a few nano seconds after paying for the service I sent Email to the commercial service telling them to rescind my payment and request for renewal. I had several Email 'storms' between them and myself that got quite 'heated' at times. I used my AMEX card and disputed the payment almost immediately and told the commercial service I had done that. The commercial service was adamant they would not refund my money.... but my AMEX stepped in and made sure the commercial service was not paid a penny. I 'won the day' but the commercial service sure went to great lengths to maintain their legitimacy. The commercial service mentioned in the OP and Bruce's posting about the payment agreement box being checked by default is the real deception IMO.

 

[TexasEye]

If a reasonable and prudent person is tricked into thinking this "Service" is from the United States Coast Guard the Coast Guard has a problem they need to fix.

The Documentation process is relatively simple and if you have any problems just call the help number and they will walk you thru it.

Most of the time the Government agencies will not act on these issues unless they get complaints. Might be time for us to complain, I too get these "Official" notices in the mail, one other point is many of us are "Senior Citizens" which carries more weight when reporting scams...

Tex