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The Internet is world wide and can be viewed by millions of people, this can result in offers from potential buyers from abroad. Some advertisers on the site have been approached by foreign "bogus buyers" - Any offers for an instrument far in excess of the asking price are more than often bogus and should be ignored and not replied to. Examples of offers and e-mail addresses can be viewed here .
There have been several press articles regarding
dubious scams that have originated in Nigeria and therefore great care should
be taken with any offer from this region of the world. To view an interesting
and informative article regarding such scams click
here .
If the scam is a Hotmail or Yahoo account you can report the scam by e-mailing
and enclosing the offending mail to: abuse@hotmail.com
or abuse@yahoo.com This can result in
the offender's account being closed down and they'll find it hard to establish
another one with the same provider.
Remember that it is very easy to open an e-mail account with very little or no ID needed with no confirmation of address or name needed. This applies particularly to Yahoo accounts. Therefore great care should be taken when communicating with a potential buyer or seller solely via e-mail.
If a potential buyer appears to be dubious - it is best to use your common sense and not to reply to the e-mail and wait for a more creditable offer. By not replying to such e-mails it discourages any dubious buyers from using the site and also prevents the seller getting into lengthy unprofitable e-mail correspondence.
Regarding payment, services offered by paypal.com are worth considering.
Telephone numbers and addresses can be cross
referenced in the UK using bt.com (directory
enquiries) and consignia-online.com
Also names and addresses in the UK can be compared using "people search"
at 192.com
UK STD telephone codes and postcodes can be checked at ukphoneinfo
The country and region of international numbers can be checked using http://www.fonefinder.net/
If you are expecting replies via e-mail, it is advisable that all computers that receive e-mails have an up to date anti-virus programme.
Beware if any prospective buyer sends another person on their behalf to purchase an instrument. Check that the cheque or bankers draft is genuine. Example of true case
If you have any useful suggestions to add to this guide please e-mail: Click here
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