Troll or Legit?

[xprow]

Im trying to sell this Mixer/Recorder and ive gotten two bites on it. But both want to deposit a larger sum then what its worth in my account then have me send them the rest of the money as they were both out of the country. Is there anyways I could get scammed here? How could I protect myself from getting scammed in this situation as there is a lot of money at stake and im quiet nervous to go this route. So can anyone give me some insight? It would be greatly appreciated.. here is the email I got:

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Dear Sir,

I am interested in buying your Digital Audio Workstation-Mixer/Recorder which will be shipped to the UNITED KINGDOM "LONDON". Meanwhile, I would want to know more about the product.

However,we have a debtor in the US who has agreed to send you a cashiers check to cover the cost of your instrument. Moreso, because what he owes is slightly higher than the cost of the product, he will be sending you a check for $6500. The extra will be used to pay for the cost of shipment to to London which will be handled by an agency. Meanwhile, I will want to know if the cost of shipment will entirely be borne by you.

If this suites you fine and you know that we will not have problems with you about the balance. Please send us your full names andmailing address, not a box address with your telephone number.

Looking forward to hearing from you as urgently as possible.

Thank you.

-----------------(ommited name)

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soo looks fishy?

 

[Maleficus]

Looking forward to hearing from you as urgently as possible.

?

sounds like a troll to me

 

[Is]

I would never trust any sales transaction involving you giving somebody money (they're supposed to give you money, not the other way around!), I would never trust any transaction involving an intermediary (escrow excepted), and I would be very wary of overseas transactions.

 

[microAmp]

There was another thread similar to this in Off Topic, but involving a car, seemed like everyone posted said it was a scam.

 

[xprow]

Ah, thanks for the info. Looks like ill pass on this one then

 

[dpm]

AVOID!

I've read about this kind of scam more than a few times in the last few months. They are relying on the fact that once your money and your goods are out of the country you have no chance getting them back - once you find out a month down the line that the cheque you received was forged / bounced.

You'll find out that you shipped to a mailbox/shipping company with no record of what happened to your stuff, and you will be considerably poorer / less happy than you are now.

All it is a slightly more respectable looking version of the Nigerian 419 scam - ask yourself why anyone would want to go through such a process to get money owed to them, and involve someone they do not know - you.

Also, being English myself, the email's author has a wierd writing style, chooses odd words, and uses Americanisms rather than the British equivalent - eg check/cheque, and mailing address / postal address. And what kind of British guy would write "the UNITED KINGDOM "LONDON" ". The whole email just screams scam.

Let me see if I can't find a link explaining these scams.
Oh, and did you get any address details for the LONDON guy? I bet It would trace down to a shipping exporters...

 

[dexvx]

Tell him that it will take 6-10 weeks to clear an international check.

 

[klah]

http://www.fdic.gov/news/news/SpecialAlert/2003/SA1703.html

The "buyer" tells the seller, either in the initial e-mail or later, that payment will be made with an "official check" and may mention that the check will be purchased by a third party, based in the U.S., who owes the "buyer" money.
...
The "buyer" will then ask the seller to wire the excess funds to the "buyer's" financial intermediary immediately after depositing the "official check," or will ask the seller to send a cashier's check in the amount of the excess funds.

They use cashiers checks because banks make the funds available to you immediately making most people believe it was valid, and it is not until 1-2weeks later that it is found to be bogus.

edit: FBI issued an advisory on this exact scam earlier this month: http://www1.ifccfbi.gov/strategy/11403NigerianWarning.pdf
I would file a report with all of the information you have collected.