I was recently burned for about $2400 on Audiogon, from a guy with no feedback. I thought, well, at one time I had no feedback, this guy is just getting going on Audiogon, I can help him out and we will do a deal.
From now on I will only use an escrow service for anything over $1000. If the buyer doesn't accept that then too bad, I will wait for a buyer who is willing to use escrow.
I talked to the buyer of my Denon AVR-5800 two or three times on his cell phone and he was an accomplished scam artist, very personable. I should have been more thorough in my research. After the burn I looked up apartment buildings in the Arlington, VA. area and found the address and phone number of the apartment complex that the buyer had the FedEx COD shipment sent to. When I called the apartment manager she said she had never heard of the buyer before, he had never lived there. If I only would have done that when the package was on the way then we could have set a trap for the ***hole. The buyer had me send the receiver by FedEx COD overnight. Shipping approx. $240. Story: his son was coming to town the next day for his birthday and so he wanted to surprise him with a nice receiver. FedEx attempted to deliver the package to the front desk of the apartments, couldn't find the recipient's name as a resident, package sent back to the local FedEx terminal listed as incorrect address. Next morning (busiest time of the day for shipping centers) someone shows up at FedEx, presents a forged Cashiers Check, and there goes my receiver. The check was well done, with the typical endorsement and security wording on the back of the check, etc. It was written from a fictitous Credit Union. Since the COD and shipping charges had been put on my FedEx account, then I was required to pay those to FedEx also.
My stupid bank took three weeks before they notified me of the fraudulent check, after I noticed a deduction from my account online in the amount of the Cashiers Check. FedEx only saves their security tapes for two weeks, so we could not get a photo of the guy, only a description by the clerk.
I did not do more research at the right time because I own my own business and am usually very pressed for time. I thought, hey, it's a COD shipment with a request for a Cashiers Check, what could possibly go wrong. I will never again be so naive (stupid). All you guys who are honest and forthright in your dealings and think of Audiogon as a cool community place where all the Audiophiles hang out and groove with each other need to wake up and smell the ca-ca.
There are people out there whose sole mission in life is to constantly think of ways to screw over other people. The internet gives them a wonderful opportunity to do that in countless different ways.
Buyer and seller beware!
Sign me burned and burning.
