Greetings,  With all the discussion of Internet fraud, I thought
I would mention a case of non-fraud that I was almost certain was
an attempt at defrauding.  I handled the situation very carefully
and actually made a good profit.

I was contacted by an individual from Uzbekistan who claimed to want
to buy my complete collection of E-Rolls for $950 plus shipping via
International FedEx express for almost another $100.  They wanted my
bank account and routing number to do a direct deposit.  The reason
given was that any other means of sending money was expensive and
risky.

I knew that Uzbekistan has a reputation for fraud of all types
including Internet fraud.  After laughing it off, I decided to see if
I could think of a safe way to give the interested party a chance.
I had a free checking account that had about $1 in it that I had never
closed so I gave the account information to the buyer.

Believe it or not, the money showed up a few days later and I immediately
transferred it to another account.  I sent the music and it must have
been a legitimate address as it was never returned.  I left $1 in the
account and it is still there.  I plan to do the same if the opportunity
arises again.  The most I could loose is my $1.

Once a bank transfer is concluded, it can not be reversed as in stopping
a check or money order.  The risk is that an unscrupulous bank can use
the account information to withdraw money as well as to deposit it so
you have to make sure that money is in the account for as little time
as possible.  Once it is out of the account it is safe.  I think it is
unlikely that a bank could check frequently to see if money was available
for taking without raising suspicion but there may be a way.

So, as far as I can guess, this is a fairly safe way to accept money
from suspicious sources.

Best regards,
Spencer Chase
Laytonville, Calif.
http://www.spencerserolls.com/