Fake Escrow

An bogus Escrow Agent is suggested as a means to protect to the parties involved in the sale.
In this scheme a fraudster will pretend to be a legitimate escrow agent, which should provide greater protection to both online buyer and seller, but will actually be working to defraud the seller. In a legitimate escrow arrangement, a purchaser will send money to the escrow service. The escrow service will confirm receipt of the payment to the seller. The seller will then ship the merchandise to the buyer who will notify the escrow agent that the goods were received as expected. The escrow agent will then forward the payment to the seller. The escrow agent will receive a fee for his service. The buyer and the seller will arrange among themselves responsibility for payment of the escrow service charge.
In a Fake Escrow scheme, the escrow agent will tell the seller that good funds were received when none were. After the buyer (who may, in fact, be operating the Fake Escrow service) receives the goods, the Fake Escrow will cease communications with the seller. There may be a brief period where the seller is told the funds have been shipped. Excuses may follow, such as claims of lost shipments, illnesses, misdirected mail, etcetera. Eventually, however, the seller receives nothing for his goods.
It is also possible for the Fake Escrow to collect funds from a legitimate purchaser and then abscond with the money, leaving the seller and the buyer in an adversarial relationship.
To protect yourself, deal with known, reputable escrow agencies and services. An escrow service that has been in business for a number of years is unlikely to be actively engaged in an ongoing fraud. Length of operation is no guarantee, however, that an escrow service may suddenly go out of business. Some level of protection and assurance can be obtained from dealing with bonded, insured, and/or underwritten companies.