Scammers,Scammers and Flim Flammers!

[SachsGS]

It seems every time I try to sell something over the Internet lately,somebody is trying to rip me off.The method of choice seems to be a variation of the "Nigerian" scam,you know where the scammer sends you more then what you asked for,says "so sorry" that the secretary made a mistake,keep an extra $200 and just send the balance back.

Usually the English is bad,multiple Internet Cafe addresses,all little things to tip me off that I'm dealing with a scammer.

"I'm going to purchase the motorcycle for my Uncle who is employed as a researcher in Antartica","My brother is in Japan with the earthquake relief effort" and "I'm going to have you ship it to England" are some of the more notable lines I've read.Ya right and Bob's my uncle!

A new variation is supplying a PayPal address for instant payment,seems the scammers have found a flaw in that method of exchange.

I've tried,when they get really bad, to "Scam the Scammers".Almost had a crook Western Union me $263.83 for NSF cheque insurance.Anybody else had similar experiences?

[Coop]

Yep. I don't even respond to emails that just ONLY say "Still for sale?" because that is often someone fishing for emails and I even hate spam email  .

[VintageBlueSmoke]

I attempted to buy a Porsche in Italy. I said my man would meet them at the port to pay them and take posession. I happened to be there so I had a lovely lunch by the sea but no red Cabrio C4.

The add was quickly pulled, all contact info was burned. No sight of them afterwards. Traced the IP's through a couple of proxies to Hong Kong but it ended behind the Great Wall of China.

No loss. It was a fun exercise.

[TMKIWI]

I just had a long lost uncle die in Scotland leaving me a 1 million pound inheritance.
I am waiting for the deposit.

[ACMX]

Haha yeah. I had the secretary thing happen too. They told me to keep a little more and western union them the rest of the money back. Of course two weeks later the bank would have realized the cashiers check was a fake and taken the money back. Leaving me with no money, in debt and without my item.

[yo_marc]

I've had decent luck selling things locally.  Only a few yahoo's email or write lowballing or asking 20 questions over a series of days, then never replying again.

I did come across one local ad for a nice looking 2002 or so Ford Mustang.  The price was too good to be true, so I wanted to hear what the bait was.  I don't remember exactly - something to do with them (posing as a female) being out of the country and I would have to wire money and work with someone here in the states...

[ford832]

Oops,I naturally assumed by the title this was another "new Maico" thread.My bad.
I've never been taken yet but really the only thing I use the net for is email and a few bike,hunting,fishing sites.