| The scam is that they "sell" the (non-existent) bike, then ask for a deposit up-front to secure the bike. This is usually around £2,000 and paid via Western Union.
The problem is that using Western Union is like sending cash. Despite what the seller will tell you, once the money has been wired to a WU office, as long as you know the sender's name you can walk into that office and claim the money. No secret passwords, clearance codes or id required - you just take the cash.
Another version is that the money is put into an Escrow account. Escrow is where an intermediary company is used to hold a deposit until the goods are released. The scam here is that the money is paid into a FAKE escrow account and just disappears.
While I agree with the point that it's nice to take a deposit from an ebayer to secure the sale (and weed out non-legitimate buyers) I would never hand over any money without having first seen the bike and first checked the history of it.
Hope this explains it... |