I recently almost got scammed into sending electronic funds to a thief operating overseas. Fortunately things turned out in my favor and my payment did not go through.
It got me thinking though about the fact that before contacting the seller, I posted "I'll take it" in the ad.
It is possible that because of that post, I might have saved others from attempting to purchase the same non-existent item and getting scammed themselves. Surely a scammer would not tell you that his non-existent item had already been sold - he would be happy to sell it multiple times since there was never any intent to deliver.
So for safety sake, consider posting that you are buying an item. Most people do it to claim the item as theirs, but in the event of a scam, you might save others from suffering the same fate.
It got me thinking though about the fact that before contacting the seller, I posted "I'll take it" in the ad.
It is possible that because of that post, I might have saved others from attempting to purchase the same non-existent item and getting scammed themselves. Surely a scammer would not tell you that his non-existent item had already been sold - he would be happy to sell it multiple times since there was never any intent to deliver.
So for safety sake, consider posting that you are buying an item. Most people do it to claim the item as theirs, but in the event of a scam, you might save others from suffering the same fate.