Hi, I had a little bit of a different experience I would like to share, I won a bid on E-Bay 2 weeks ago for a Krell 600C, the guy is from Belgium. I wanted to pay him Paypal, wich was offered or meet him in person with a bank draft, deal was worth $5500.00 usd. He wanted me to deposit the money in his New York bank account. He would not call me or give me his telephone contact number. All I had was an e-mail and a telephone number that was directed to an answering machine. Hardly a secure position to hand over $5500. The guy said he would hold the amp until he got back about 5 days. I new something was wrong. I contacted the person that was the bidder below me. I told him that I was from London and wanted to know if he had been contacted by the seller of the Krell 600C he was bidding on with auction #, and that I suspected that this could be a fraud. He contacted me , and said that yes he was contacted, and that he had wired the funds in his account. He was very worried at this point.He got back to me and, had done some investigation and replied that ( he thought this person was using someone else site )and that the over 300 + feedback didn't belong to him. He thinks he has been scamed, but still hoping for the package. Remember pay by Credit Card and (usually) if you don't get the product you don't have to pay, there is some form of protection. A bank transfer cannot be recovered, (If you have the person contact number, and you feel secure, your choice) I sure hope that this guy gets his package. I have done many deals in high end audio, everyone until this deal has been very informative with an open telephone communication, willing to share ideals and there valuable time.
A new ploy for fraud?
I recently got an inquiry on one of my ads (not here on Audiogon but on another site) for a pair of interconnects. After a few emails back and forth, we agreed on the price of $90. The prospective buyer then said he is in England and would like to propose an (unusual!) payment method. He said someone in the states owes him $3000, so he will ask this guy to send me a check for $3000, I am to cash the check and then WIRE him the difference ($2910 in this case). Of course I said thanks but I deal in cash. I never heard from him again. Has anyone experienced this?