payment and shipping info......................

Have you ever seen the Chapelle Show skit where Dave Chapelle goes on a walking tour of the internet? It's exactly what you'd expect-- actually, I think there are AOL commercials like this, too-- he gets bombarded by people offering him P3NIS ENL4G3MENT P1LLS and other sexual services (the difference between the Chapelle show skit and the AOL commercials is that Chapelle ends up pursuing some of the sexual advances...).

Anyhow, my point by making that very far-fetched allegory is that the internet is quite a sketchy place. Case in point- this blog exists. But also- so as you may know, I've been trying to sell my car for a little while now. I've put ads up on craigslist and cars.com, and both sites have a very blunt warning before you submit your info. You can see craigslist's description of common scams by following the big red link at the top of every page in their cars section:

[ cashier check & wire transfer scams ]

So anyhow, I received an e-mail from someone named 'frank autos' maybe last week saying his 'client' was interested in my car. I figured, hey, let's at least see where this goes. He made an offer that was pretty reasonable, so I wrote back and asked where he lived and if he and his 'client' would like to set up a test drive. I got this this morning (in this font and everything- for some reason I couldn't un-italicize the rest of the blog entry):
---------------------------------------------
I have discussed with my Client on the price of your car he finally accepted your price,he hopes the engine is serviced and oil changed too . However,He made out a certified cashiers check of($16,000) before he
travelled for a conference,for a previous car and its shipment charges etc,but it was unfortunately sold.The amount on the check he deposited for the car is bigger than what should be paid to you now, so the check is
now meant for the total expenses which includes the purchase of your car,the pick up of the car from its present location and the shipping charges/other necessary shipping arrangements. However he has instructed us to carry on with this transaction. So you're required to deduct the cost of your car ($8,300)and send the balance of($7,700) to my client shipping agent to enable him offsett shipping charges/arrangements. once the transaction is concluded,My client shipping agent will be coming for
the pick up of the car from its present location, on an open vehicle and then drive to a pre paid shipper for shipment,and also conclude other necessary shipping arrangements.so you dont have to bother yourself about the pick up and shipping arrangements,while title papers and other necessary documets will be sent by you via fedex courier to us. Please Confirm this and provide (1) Name (2) Contact address for check payment to be delivered to you via fedex courier . Attn,please remove the add of the car from the website,
Thanks and God bless,


----------------------------------------

ya gotta love the 'God bless' at the end. classy.

So I may have interest from an actual human for something to the tune of $6200. I'll see if I can talk him up, but I'm sick of this crap and I just wanna sell the car already. C'est la vie.