Fairlight-CMI

> Item #7300545671.
>
> Original auction was #3779746157.
>
> As I said, they keep coming monthly...
>
> eBay and the original seller are informed.

An update with a few insights into the whole scam:

Since eBay didn't manage to end the auction in time (and kick the seller
out) I went ahead and bid for it (to prevent any damage). And yeah; I won!

The seller had a completely different name than the one in the "end of
auction mail" from eBay. He contacted me claiming he was currently in
London and would have the "mic" with him. Make a mental note here.
Than he asked me to use an escrow service. Well, I'm pretty certain that
it's one of those fake escrow services. The registration was just 6 days
prior. I replied that it's great he is in London, and it would be much
easier to send a couple of my friends over to collect the machine and
deliver the money.

Well, noooo. He's way to busy this week, no time at all. So I said: Fine; I
can wait until next week; or let's use one of those ebay-endorsed escrow
companies. I haven't heard back from him since...

Of course I had reported the fake escrow site to eBay (Germany) as well;
also mentioning the various discrepancies in his behaviour. Nothing
happened. So I wrote again today to ebay US - and within two hours he was
history.

Now back to the mental note: a mic? So I went over the various eBay
listings for expensive mics for the last few days - and yes; there was one
ending shortly! Same pattern in the auction - a price waaaaayyyy too cheap
to be realistic, a new user and a few other things. ebay managed to kick
this guy within about an hour (apparently I wasn't the only one noticing
this).

So, this makes three scammers so far; and I'm monitoring a few more
auctions that look suspicious, too.

Now, what's the purpose of this lengthy diatribe? It seems to me that there
is a scammer or a group of scammers operating on a "professional" level.
They seem to focus on high-end studio gear. I believe it's always the same
guy (or the same group). Luckily they aren't too clever, it seems. But
maybe they'll learn and perfect their "craft" soon.

So I suggest to use extreme caution when buying gear via eBay. Don't ever
use *any* escrow sites that are not officially endorsed by eBay. We all
would like to get the "deal of the century", sure. But don't let that blur
your vision. If something sounds too good to be true - well...