[ Erren Barnhard wrote to MMD and Jody --

> I had listed a Simplex push-up player for sale in your publication
> at http://www.mmdigest.com/Exchange/page2.htm  I have received five
> inquiries, three of which were scams trying to get me to send a
> money-gram for the shipping cost.
>
> I just wanted you to know that I feel your site is a good target for
> scammers.  Is there anything that you can do about that?

I am interested to know what the other MMDers think.  What I can tell
you is that it seems that any advertised product, no matter where,
seems to attract this kind of scum out of the water.

I had one guy want to buy 100 copies of a single title of one of Wayne
Stahnke's "Live Performance" diskettes.  I've sold a complete set of
titles before, but never more than two of a single title.  Just odd.

The buyer wanted to send a "courier with a cashier's check".  I called
the FBI and they confirmed this was a standard scam and, no, they didn't
have time to set up a sting.

My wife advertised an expensive horse saddle on Craigslist.  An
experienced rider would no sooner buy a saddle without verifying that
it fit _both_ the rider and the horse than you would buy a pair of
dress shoes without trying them on and walking in them.   She got a
solicitation from a guy who was supposedly buying the saddle for his
wife, a woman supposedly in the military and out-of-town.  He wanted
it _now_ at full price.  Negotiations went downhill pretty quickly from
there when she started asking questions, but it looked like it was
going to be one of those "cashier's check" deals with the check made
out for too much.

My advice to everyone that's on the 'Net: "Keep your bullshit detector
set to extra sensitive."

Jody Kravitz, MMD
Santee, California