I guess it happens to us all sometimes. We see a deal that seems too good to be true and ignore the warning signs that we are dealing with a con artist.

For a long time I have been wanting to get a copy of a marketing course that originally sold for about a thousand dollars.

In recent months, with the release of a new version, the old course (which is still full of valuable information) has dropped in price on eBay. At first it sold for nearly retail price. Later, the price came down to around $600, and now it can be found for $300 and sometimes a bit less.

Well, I saw an auction for a copy and the listing showed a photograph of the complete product laid out on a table so you could see that everything was there. The listing said that the seller would sell it for $145 and to send an email if interested. When I contacted the seller I was asked for my PayPal email address so that they could bill me for the product plus shipping.

BIG WARNING SIGN NUMBER ONE - the seller wanted to complete the sale off of the eBay system. That’s a big against the eBay rules and is a classic scammer move.

I figured the seller just wanted to save some cash in fees and I went along with it. After I sent the money, I received a note inside eBay from the seller saying, “I just want to make sure that you will receive all material in digital format on a DVD. I’ll ship it tomorrow. ”

The course includes a DVD, 10 audio CDs, 9 CD-ROMs, and 2 printed workbooks. That was what was pictured in the listing. So, I wasn’t sure what to make of this remark and decided to wait until the package arrived to determine if I was scammed… but I had a bad feeling.

The package arrived today and it was - in fact - not the course pictured. I got one home made disc in a cardboard wrapper.

The moral of the story: if it sounds to good to be true, it probably is. And, if the person trying to sell it to you asks you to follow them down a digital dark alley to complete the deal… RUN AWAY FAST.

The moral of the story if you are thinking about selling anything like this: the seller has been reported to PayPal as selling fraudulent and/or bootleg products (I have to inspect the disc to determine if the files on it are copies from the real course. Also, because the seller shipped the package to me across state lines using the US Postal Service, this transaction constitutes Interstate Mail Fraud.

Mail Fraud is a felony and carries a sentence of up to five years in prison and/or fines of up to $250,000 in a case like this. I intend to bring the letter and its contents to the attention of the local post office as well as PayPal.

Hopefully I’ll get my foolishly spent money back and apply it toward purchasing a legitimate used copy of this course from a legitimate vendor. But, if I don’t, it will be an expensive reminder the next time I am tempted by a deal that seems too good to be true.

Technorati Tags: con artist, ebay scam, mail fraud