Is this a scam guys?

I am interested in buying a bike I saw off of ebay, however when I contacted the buyer,this is what I got from them for payment:

I ask $2250US dollars for it and i will support the shipping charges to your location with Lufthansa Cargo Air or FedEx Freight International. This is home delivery shipping.
Total price for this bike + shipping, handling and insurance is $2250US.
Shipping will take maximum 8 days. The crate will be delivered directly home.
I am located in Crotone, Italy. For payment you will have to send the money there through Western Union but instead of sending the money to my name send the money using your best friends name, your father's name or brother's name.
(Ex. Sender Name: Your Name, Receiver Name: Father's name) This way only your father can pick up the money.
After you made the transfer you will just have to send me an email with the transfer's details so i can check it online with Western Union on www.westernunion.com
As soon as the payment confirms i will proceed to shipping and provide you with the tracking number; after you will receive the bike and test it, you will simply place a phone call to Western Union and have them change the receiver's name into my name so i can collect the payment.
Thus i know for sure that i will get my money and you'll know you get the bike before i get the payment.
Let me know if these conditions are acceptable for you so i will know i have a buyer.

What do you think? I think its a scam most likely... :(

it ounds really dodgy..... does a check have your account number on it? and also a signature? with your name?

if so.... then someone can use those to get at your bank account...

i would not touch this deal :S

Well if you have any questions at all, and for that amount of money - I wouldn't bother. There will be another bike for sure. Man they sounded dodgy for sure.

to start i'd check their seller rating and see if they've sold other things successfully before. the father's/brother's name thing seems a bit odd but it does seem to actually trying to protect you, which is a good thing i guess. you could also use an escrow service for a couple bucks if you want to be safe.

chris

i heard or read somewhere (i forgot) that if they ask to use western union for the transfer that you should stay away. There is a way for them to take the money with no way of tracking them down, but the way they do it i have forgotten. I think paypal is more secure and its less liable for a scam.

Western Union as not secure system for wath I know... often use in scam! Western Union is good to send money to someone you trust (friends family Busnies partners)... since it thei rate is very low... Its also better tahn a check since they cant bonce back...

But his story seem a little strange, and strange things with money... often leads to scam!

Also the price seem low to me... A bike is not a small package... Shpping something this big by air is not cheap...
I can see 3 explanation for this...

1) The bike itself is VERY cheap and the most important part of the payment will go for shiiping (in this case save yourslef a lot of cash and get something closer to you)

2) The seller is not aware of how much it will really cost... chance are than you will recive a call form him once he will realise how much it would really cost (Your bike may end up costinf far much to you)

3) A scam...

it seems like a scam to me, once i was on ebay looking at cameras and i saw a GL2 for 1000 USD now thats really cheap and the guy said he was in germany or something and wanted check, i didnt beleive it, i was really close to sending him a check but i decided that it was too good to be true then a week later i searched for it just to see who bought it and his user name didnt even show up on the ebay database i guess he just magically dissapeared. So i would definately not touch that deal...better to be saffe than sorry

What kind of bike??? :D:D

Yea it was definately a scam, my friend had an email like that sent to him regarding another bike,and now the auction is not up anymore.

Spectra ,it was a highly modified 2001 Yamaha YZF-R1.

when a deal is too good to be true, it probably is and for that price i thought it was like an expensive mountain bike, not a BIKE.

chris