Possible scam? What would you do?

[ko stradivarius]

So I had my amp for sale on ebay. A guy used buy it now and promptly told me he would send a money order and wants me to ship it to his "courier" in Miami. I know he's out of the country just by the language he uses.
Obviously, a red flag goes up at this point.

I email him back stating I will only accept a paypal payment or a US post Office money order (being the easiest to spot a fake).
He says he'll send a paypal payment over the weekend. I never received payment. I email him today stating I never received payment and I'm not feeling comfortable with the transaction at this point as well as I need to get the money to pay for a newer amp I bought.
He emails me back and tells me he couldn't send a paypal payment and he sent a bank of America certified check via FedEx yesterday!! he didn't even have the tracking number with him to email me. (Hmmm...how convenient)
I responded by stating ~again~ that I will only accept a paypal payment or a USPS money order and that I no longer feel comfortable with the transaction and I'm cancelng it. I suggested he cancel the check and get FedEx to re-route the package back to him.

I feel I did the right thing. My gut was telling me something is fishy by the way he can't follow instructions.

What do you guys think?

[Darkstrike]

Yup, scamola.

[mjolnir]

Definitely sounds like you caught a scammer.

[CrashClint]

Yeah KO, it sounds like a scam! I had a similiar situation happen to me with a Tobias bass I listed a while back. I listed in my posting I would not sell or ship to anyone outside of the US. A guy emailed me through ebay and asked if he could bid and told him what was stated on the listing and he did Buy it Now anyway. I reported it to ebay and ended up selling the bass to a TBer and didn't have to list it. People are forging Bank Checks, I would give it a couple days, if you do receive a Bank of America check, carry it down to the bank and let them trace it to make sure it is real and from the right person, if you do not receive anything, just report it to ebay as a non-payment.

[bigfatbass]

scam all the way, don't forget to notify ebay in big capital leters

[baba]

scam, report it.

[ko stradivarius]

Thanks guys.

I just received another email from him saying he will pay via paypal tonight.

I just sent an email back asking him not to send any money and reminding him ,yet again, I am cancelling this transaction and that I don't feel comfortable with it.

[bigfatbass]

any time someone asks you to ship to an "agent" or whatever, it is instant grounds for cancel.

[bongomania]

+1

[fishtx]

you did the right thing...

[lefty007]

Originally Posted by ko stradivarius

I email him back stating I will only accept a paypal payment or a US post Office money order

Don't forget that Paypal does not protect you whatsoever if the seller is not verified and you are not shipping to a confirmed address. And Paypal only offers limited protection from a handful of countries outside the US.

So when selling outside the US, accept only wire transfers to your bank account. They are 100% safe for you. Or Western Union wires, but those cost a lot more to the buyer.

[Rattman]

SO BUSTED!!! Great to know that you'll not be regretting anything... because that whole exchange was nothing but a "confidence game".. well-done.. you've saved yourself a bunch of heartache.

[saltymonkey]

In ebay's buyer requirements you can block all bids from bidders in countries to which you do not ship when listing your item. A great feature.

[Spector_Ray]

Red flags MUST go up if somebody tries to do things outside of what was stated in the auction. You can't be too careful these days.

Your training has served you well, young Skywalker.