FIRST PERSON/OPINION Via e-mail: I believe that a motorcycle which I have advertised for sale in Roadracing World magazine, roadracingworld.com, and placed up for auction on e-bay, is the bait for an internet scam. I apologise for the length of this message, please read in its entirity. The terms of my 10-day auction were for the winning bidder to pay a deposit of $1000, via USPS money order or cashiers check, within 72 hours of the auction’s end, with the balance to be paid in a similar fashion, or with cash, within 10 days of the auction’s end. 5 days into the auction, an e-bay member in France contacted me, and asked me if I was willing to sell the bike to an overseas bidder. I stated that If the bidder complied with my payment instructions, he would be free to do whatever he wanted to with the bike, once the transaction was complete. I stated that I would not be responsible for making any shipping arrangements, as was stated in the terms of my auction. This person placed one bid, which was the winning bid, in the closing seconds of the auction. This person contacted me with a request to pay the required deposit with a funds transfer from his bank in France, to my bank in the US. He needed my bank account information in order to do this. I declined to allow this (!), and instead, requested that he pay the deposit via Pay Pal. I then sent an official request for funds to him via Pay Pal. The 72 hour deposit deadline came and went, and I did not recieve any money. I contacted the winning bidder to ask what the problem was. He responded that it would take Pay Pal 4 days to activate his account, and requested that I send him my mailing address, so that he could immediately send my the deposit via Western Union. During this time, I recieved a call from the 2nd highest bidder. He got my telephone number from the Roadracing Word classified ad which I had placed. He stated that he had recieved 3 e-mails, from 3 seperate e-mail addresses, all claiming to offer him a “second Chance” to win this auction, if he were to immediately send a $1000 deposit. The e-mails claimed that the winning bidder had declined to pay, and that the auction item was still available. I did not send any such e-mails!! The send highest bidder very nearly sent $1000 (or more) to an unknown person, with the illusion that he was buying MY motorcycle!! The only way he avoided being a victim of this scam was to contact me directly, as my telephone number was in the RR World ad but not on the E-bay auction page. This is very obviously a scam. Please warn your readers. Please contact me if you would like any more information concerning this matter. I have contacted the E-bay security division, and am considering contacting the local authorities. I would appreciate your thoughts on this matter. Thank you for your time. Nick Pelhan Albuquerque, New Mexico We suggest you contact local police…Editor.