How NOT to get scammed when purchasing something that looks too good to be true:

Back in May, 2006 I happened along a BEAUTIFUL red '72 Blazer - mint condition. The buy it now cost?...$5200.00. That INCLUDED transport anywhere in the U.S. - riiiiiiiiiiight.

Now I know better - those go between $15-30,000 in that condition. When it's too good to be true...it usually is. Out of curiosity I sent the person an e-mail via eBay, and received a reply stating that "according to the program" the seller required a $2800.00 deposit - via Western Union. Okay...at that point I knew it was a scam and e-mailed eBay. The auction was yanked immediately.

But I continued to pursue that matter...out of a sense of amusement. It was amazing...the entity actually came back with a terrific cut-and-paste version of the eBay Motor Buyers Protection page...complete with all the information I provided them! The name, address, phone number....it looked perfectly authentic.

HOWEVER - it was NOT sent via the eBay e-mail system. The entity sent it directly into my e-mail account, and NO further communication came with the eBay e-mail address on it.

Guess what? This week the SAME Blazer came up for auction...and the description and "tone" of the vehicle description was almost IDENTICAL to the one back in May. When I inquired about it, I got the SAME scam set up where they requested a $2800.00 deposit. Different eBay user name this time...different AOL e-mail user name...same scammer however. This time..and this is funny...they required bidders to be "screened" before they could bid.

The auction has been pulled, as I suspect a few other people remember this particular scammer and cried "SCAM" to eBay. I imagine the scammer will change tone/item/tactics in the future...but the few things to remember are easy:

1) If the item is grossly undervalued - BEWARE!

2) NEVER send ANY money via Western Union or any such type of institution.

3) Do NOT reply directly from your e-mail account (AOL/Hotmail...whatever.) Insist all communications be routed via eBay and not directly through your "home" e-mail account.

4) LOG INTO eBay to ensure the e-mail was SENT via the eBay system. If it isn't in your inbox "messages" folder...BEWARE.

5) If the entity has no "feedback" (this scammer had zero)...BEWARE.

And quite honestly - I look at feedback and see who buys/sells, what the items have been, and how long the people have been members. If I see a bunch of purchases or items that have sold, and it's between someone with zero feedback, and someone else with zero feedback, and they are both "new" members...I'm leary. Some people bid on their own stuff to inflate their feedback scores.

Good luck out there everyone!