someone's trying to con me...

hmm... some time ago, i posted my digital piano on the ebay.com.my for RM3k. then the other day, someone contacted me abt it... the first fishy thing abt it is, he didn't bid on ebay, but straight away offer me a higher price. here's his e-mail:

Hello,
Am Kollins Joe from a nearby country(Singapore), am a seller as well which I have agent in some neighbourhood countries like China,Japan,and also in Europe like England,Spain and also in some small African Counties like Ghana,Gabon and likely in Nigeria.Am interested in buying this item of yours as a Christmas gift for some of my crucial agent in Africa(Nigeria),but before I do so I will like to know the condition of this item and also telling you that I can afford to pay you MYR4000 if you are ready and willing to sell for me I will be paying through Bidpay or western union money order because they deals with taking huge amount of money directly to the seller at home. So I will like to know your mind on this because I will be making the payment quickly once my offer is accepted and I will also be handling the shippment by myself because I have an account with one of the courier service(Fedex).Awaiting your quick response.
Regards,
Kollins Joe

actually, this was his 2nd e-mail to me. his first was exactly the same, but with the price quoted at RM4500. anyway, here's my reply:

hello,

i noticed that u quoted a different price here from your previous mail (dated 1st dec).

as for the condition of the item, it's only 1 year old and still very brand new.

if you are still interested, kindly close the deal as soon as possible as another person has contacted me abt it.

his reply:

Hello,

I have been looking forward for your response since about the selling of your piano. I am glad to hear from you that I am the highest bider for your item, so I have to purchase this item if only you are willing to sell in the next 3 business days and also I should send you the payment directly so I don't want to us to waste much time on this transaction again.

I will like to inform you that my method of payment will be through Western Union Money Order/Bidpay because it is the best method of payment which I normarlly used with most of the sellers and also it is safed and guaranteed because your money will be post directly to your home without you paying any addional or handling fees before collection.

I will also like to inform you that I will be responsible for the shippment of the item,so as far as the payment is cleared I will instruct my courier service(Fedex) to come over to your home for the collection of the items but before they do so, I will have to send you some crucial shipping document which you will need to print out directly from your email box and paste on the package before the Fedex officer arrival.And also you don't need to pay for the courier service, I will be responsible for that.

All I need is your full name, contact address so that I will be able to make the payment asap.As soon as the payment has been made by me you will receive a pending mail confirmation from the Western Union Money Order Service/Bidpay service indicating that the money has been made and it is in transit for delivery and after that probably withing some few hours you will receive the approval mail from them signifying that the payment has been approved so you most proceed with the shippment.

I will like to ask for a favour from you and it is just that I will not be able to wait for the payment to be approved because this transaction has been late already, so I want you to release the item to the courier service once you get the pending confirmation email because i am sending this item as a christmas gift to one of my crucial agent in Africa. Awaiting your good response on this.

Kollins Joe

getting fishier... my reply:

hello,

thanks for the prompt reply. but in your mail, you didn't mention about the price. so which is the agreed upon price? RM4500?

as i'm not familiar with the payment methods of Western Union Money Order/Bidpay, i think it'll be better if i wait for the payment to be approved, since you said it's only within a few hours. will that be alright?

one more thing that i should ask. seeing that it's a piano, i have some concerns about the packaging... how should i get the piano ready for the courier service personnels? or would it be ok to just leave the piano as it is and the courier people would know what to do with it?

my full name and address is as follow:
(Full name)
(Address)

his reply:

Hello,

Thanks for given your payments details.Well i will conatct western union office tomorrow and make the payments of RM5000, so you should get back to me immediately my payments has been approved.

Thanks

note that the price has changed again! apa lar... my reply (in my mind):

you scumbag! do you think u can con me that easily? it's so obvious that this is all a hoax! now take ur bloody RM5k and go to hell!

but i didn't lar. coz i stupidly gave him my full name and home address... n he also has my e-mail add... dunno what he can do with it. so i just replied:

i'm very sorry to tell you that the item has been sold. i received the payment for it yesterday in cash. so as i go on a first-come-first-served basis (as i've informed you earlier), i've closed the deal. the piano would be shipped out today. thanks for your interest anyway.

*sigh... i knew it's too good to be true...