Alternatively, he suggested that I could also facilitate matters even more if I would be willing to have the overpaid balance of funds wired to him via a Western Union wire transfer. The entire matter was just a silly mix-up according to him. The local newspaper quoted an FBI spokesperson that week as saying that this was one of the most common and damaging scams that had been proliferating the on-line auction community for several weeks.

The big problem was when the check from the buyer was initially deposited into the seller’s bank account, it was often times a common courtesy for the seller’s bank to allow the seller to withdraw the overpayment and send it off to the buyer. Of course when the check ended up bouncing, the seller, who had already dashed off the funds to the scumbag buyer, was held liable for the entire amount of the bad deposit, along with the associated fees, and in some cases, sellers were even charged with felonious counts related to Forgery, Possession of a Forged Instrument, Theft, and a host of other life destroying criminal charges.

Scary? Oh, yes. True? Very much so. A good reason to stick your head in the sand and avoid the retail revolution of the new millennium? Heck no! But just as it goes with everything else in the big blue world we live in, you have to use your thinker, and be aware. Don’t become so cynical you can’t enjoy the benefits of this fantastic technological development. Don’t go skipping down the Internet super highway without paying attention to the traffic either. And always strive to keep yourself informed.

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