Audiogon sellers, please stop and read this thread


I had a couple listings last week and I received one e-mail from a potential buyer to instruct me to contact him via his private e-mail right away.

I was offered to be paid by Cashier Check rather than Paypal.
I accepted the term that the buyer would have his "agent" to pick up the units for sale. In term, I told the buyer I would only accept the Cashier Check from major banks.

Yesterday, I received an e-mail from the buyer instructing me to deposit the Cashier Check one I receive it BUT since the Cashier Check was made by his "financier" for more than the sale price, the buyer wanted me to cash out the difference and send a Moneygram to his "agent" so his" agent" can pick up the merchandise and the buyer thanked me for my " corporation".

I demand to know if the Cashier Check was made from major banks or not and how much is the difference between the sale price and the amount of the Cashier Check. I have not heard a response from him since then.

What's up? Was I born yesterday or is it a case of innocence
'till proven guilty?
andrewdoan
Nothing new under the sun. I remember buying a demo pair of Apogee Duetta Signatures from a high end dealer in Atlanta in the early 90s; I had paid for them and they were sending them air freight collect to Knoxville; I got a call telling me that they had mistakenly dispatched them collect for the purchase price + the freight but if I would pay again they would refund the money. I declined and told them they would have to go back to Atlanta. Somehow they managed to retrieve them [ HA!] and send them the way we had arranged. They went out of business a short time later. Moral: if you have doubts don't do it!
When I was sent a cashiers check (by express mail, no less) for three times the amount, the sender advised me to deposit it first and send him the difference after it cleared. . . . as if he expected the bogus check to clear.
I’ve reverted to posting Wanted Ads for what I’m looking for. One response said… short and sweet… “Have 3 new, will sell all 3 for $$$”. The respondent had no feedback or forum interaction. While the respondent’s asking price was in the ballpark, I felt it was a little too low for “new”. I E-mailed asking as nicely as I could how it came to be that the respondent had “3 new cables”. I got no immediate response. About a week later I received another E-mail from the respondent offering to sell the cables for even less, and threating to post an ad on AudiogoN at the lower asking price unless I responded immediately with payment. I took a pass… and no ad was posted by the respondent.
Why would someone pay more than your asking price? And then ask you to send the difference? Totally it is a scam. Period. Be careful. I got these emails many times.