When buying through Agon a buyer should always-

The problem is if you put in your phone number or other contact information in a private message A'gon will censor the message and not let it go through to the other member. I've seen then when I've sent a message trying to get information about an item from a seller.

Also did anyone see A'gon hub got hacked. I saw a posting on the hub saying HACKED by alireza. I guess someone is making a point about A'gon security or lack thereof.

Never respond to one of the emails like Jea48 describes above. If you receive a suspect email, always contact Audiogon through the home page. Ask if the email is legitimate. Audiogon will let you know if it is real or not. I have received many of these types of emails and all have been someone phishing.

Check the sellers eBay account and only pay via paypal.

My account gets locked on a pretty regular basis. The first time it happened, I contacted audiogon and asked if it was legit, and why. Turns out someone in Florida repeatedly tries to access my account. I'm in Wisconsin. If you go to "my page" you can pull up a history of when, and where you log in from. If you see an unusual place, change your password. I get a link from audiogon that allows me to unlock my account right away. I unlock it, then go immediately to my page, and change my password. It takes about 30 seconds. Other than a slight inconvenience, its not a big deal. To my knowledge, nobody has ever actually gained access to my account.

I repeat this again, and again and again - always contact the seller by phone ! You will know in minutes, if you are dealing with a real audiophile or not. Ask him about his system, his experience with other gear, etc. Scammers are not audiophiles !

Another thing to check if you see that the item is beeing listed as located abroad - check the sellers feedback. If the seler is not from the US, you will see the word 'international deal' mentioned a lot in his feedback. Scammers do not have many accounts to choose from, and most of the time thay are forced to use accounts from US members, which be default will not have that fact mentioned.