Ok, today he says he'll fly to Denver. Tomorrow he says "whoops can't make it till next week". Then he tells you he'll go ahead and send you a certified check for you to deposit in the bank, but, golly, he'll have to have his friend come by, but he'll write the check for 2 grand over if you'll send his buddy !K via Western Union for travel expenses. And, of course you put that extra 1K in your pocket for your trouble.

Banks are required to credit your account for deposited checks. If you deposit a fake check with proper routing numbers, it'll be about 3 days till your bank calls and tells you the check is no good.

Scams abound. These people are very adept at spinning a tale. Take the advice: No transaction except at the bank with a wire to wire transfer or cash in hand. And if you do take cash, go to a business supply store and get a fake money detector pen. There are some very real looking $100s out there. Even Secret Service sometimes has trouble detecting them.