I had this happen to me when I was selling my '63 Ragtop Beetle, albeit with
a slight variation.  The supposed buyer promised to wire the funds directly
to my account.  The day he supposedly wired the money he e-mailed me to say
that his accountant screwed up and wired me too much.  He then provided me
with a Swiss bank account where I was to wire back the difference.  At this
point I figured something was up.  It sounded too much like the check scams
I had heard of before.  I had the bank flag my account and the next day,
sure enough, they received a cashiers check, not a wire.  Obviously, the
check was counterfeit.  If I had not been suspicious, I would simply have
seen a deposit in my account and never questioned where it came from.

This scam where you are supposed to reimburse the supposed buyer for his
overpayment is known as a "Nigeria 411" scam.  There is tons of info on the
net about it.  The Secret Service agent I spoke with about my case said that
there are thousands of these cases and that they have more or less given up
any hope of catching these guys.  The Secret Service had a task force in
Nigeria specifically to work with the local law enforcement to try and
prosecute these cases, but it seems the local police always got paid off.
Appearantly, the task force was called back about 5 months ago.  BE ON YOUR
GUARD!

----- Original Message -----
From: "Jim Arnott" <jrasite@EONI.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Saturday, September 13, 2003 11:29 AM
Subject: Re: I smell a big scam brewing...

> Just inform the buyer that you have a "standard" 90 day waiting period
> between deposit of the check and delivery of the product and they'll go
> away.
>
> Jim
>
> >-----Original Message-----
> >From: Diok Jimmy [mailto:diok_c06@yahoo.com]
> >Sent: September 12, 2003 5:20 AM
> >To: sales@fastforward.ca
> >Subject: 1985 Westfalia camper - no motor - 3000 CAD
> >
> >
> >Hello David Marshall,
> >
> >     How are you doing,my name is Mr Diok Jimmy from the Zurick
> >switzerland.I am a sales manager of my enterprise and a dealer in
> >kinds of old Cars/van/trucks and its accessories.I would love to purchase
> >your(1985 Westfalia camper - no motor) please get back to me with your
last
> >offer so that payment would commence immediately.Alongside the
pics.Thanks
> >My regards,
> >Diok...............
> >
> >.
> >
> >
> >
>