I had a guy once ask me to pay in advance for a 440 engine that he led me to believe was ready to pick up... He wanted me to pay for it and he would have 'his guy' pull it so I could come back again to pick it up...
He gave me the old, "I'm a good guy" story...
So I told him, IF I do pay for it in advance, I will send him a postal money order in the mail.... Since it's out of state, it will be a federal offense if he doesn't come through with the engine... After that, he backed off on paying in advance...
He never did get back with me to pick the engine up....