Just a quick little word : one relatively common scam is the "shipping company" scam, by which someone offers you something really interesting (in my case, an M8 with three lenses, of which a Nokton 1.1 for €1050... on a French classifieds website) and when you explain you want some sort of protection : "I have found a professional delivery company that will take care of all the delivery arrangements. I have been in contact with them and they have explained to me how the delivery process will go : 1. I will go at them with the product 2. I will do all the delivery arrangements with them and i will pay for the delivery taxes 3. The delivery company will send you all the details from our deal including the following documents : - Contract for the sale of Goods - Purchase Order - Invoice with their bank account information - Quantum View Notify(TM) Ship Notification - tracking number that you will be able to check daily on their website 4. You will sign the Contract and you will send it back to the delivery company 5. You will make the payment on the bank account of the delivery company via online banking or bank account wire transfer 6. The delivery will start as soon as you confirm the payment and the product will reach your address in 2 days . 7. You will have 48 hours to test the product . If you will find any kind of damage to the product then you will receive a full refund from the delivery agent in 24 hours . This clause will be written on the contract that we will both sign before delivery . If you accept the product then the delivery company will send me the money . If you are ready to start this deal with me then please send me your full name and your address so that i can start all the delivery arrangements . Thank you !" Apparently previously known as "the TNT scam". Anyway, I though I'd post it here - to warn fellow forumers that scammers are now into photography as well... Seemed a good deal though - I guess I'll just stick to my (real) EP1 for now ! ;-)
something that's not commonly known but should be... The best protection is often to pay with your credit card. My bank / credit card will reverse any transaction I ask them to with in about a 2 month period - no fuss or fees or anything, they'll just reverse the charge. (Works great against gyms that won't cancel your membership too.) Paypal offers no real protection and there's easy ways scammers get around paypals protection schemes. If you use pay pal, use paypal via your credit card. If anything happens just reverse the charge on your card and let paypal cry over it. Of course check with your local bank/credit card issuer as your protection may vary.
