If a seller's feedback appears too good to be true, it probably is. I recently found myself in the unfortunate postion of having been ripped off.

Here are a few things I learnt:

Never do a wire transfer. You may as well put money into an envelope and throw it out the window.

Check out the feedback. If the seller has fabulous feedback such as "AAAAA+, superduper seller," it's probably fake. People don't really speak like this. Also, more than one feedabck on the same day is a real tell tale sign of nefariousness.

Always ask for a telephone number.

If there is a bank account in the equation, phone the bank and check on the owner of the account.