The Perfake Buyer

The Chicago Sun-Times reports of how a 'perfect buyer' can easily turn into a 'perfake buyer', and run off with your valuables before you know it. A Chicago-based scam involves the prospective buyer sending an e-mail to the seller indicating an interest in buying a product (in this case, a $10,000 diamond ring) but wanting to use an escrow service to ensure that the funds are not turned over to the seller until he receives the goods.

The e-mail even provides a link to the suggested escrow service's site, no doubt a very legit and secure-looking site, but one which would disappear the day the product was delivered. For individuals who are new to the internet, it is often overlooked that putting together such a site could be executed by a skilled programmer in just under a day. After all, the site doesn't need to work, it just needs to appear like it's working. A few hours of coding can easily translate into a six figure payday by running this scam simultaneously with a dozen or so susceptible sellers. Remember, stick to the payment methods you know, and if a new payment service you've never heard falls into your lap ASK: one great thing about our community is that people will provide you an answer.