[techweenie]

The bank is not your best friend in this situation. I have heard of banks keeping funds "frozen" for many, many months (a pal sent nearly $30K to Smokey Auto Sales months ago and still hadn't gotten the money back last I spoke with him - although he was able to stop the transfer).

These guys are sophisticated. The psychology of seeming reluctant to accept money from the buyer is a way of making the scammer seem less so. "Burner" phones with numbers they can drop after the transaction is done; that's a key part of the scam.

Chances are, no names or addresses suggested by the 'seller' are in any way related to the seller.

This seems like a big industry as there have been many many listings of '65 911s for $8000 on Craigslist in multiple locations, as well as other underpriced cars (the Smokey SWT, for another instance). Lest one thinks it's limited to Porsches, there's a guy purportedly in Colorado advertising an Audi A3 for under $3K at the moment - but only listing in in Southern California - over 1000 miles away. Wonder how many times he's "sold" that one?

One of the great benefits of this community is that you can ask for help from a local - almost anywhere in the world, and many Pelicanheads are eager to help. Just today, I had help in Texas to check out a car. Worth asking.