In a previous article, Dylan Smith said:
On 2006-03-03, Orval Fairbairn wrote:
old Cessna 172 for $50,000. A potential "buyer" contacts you through a
Web board or e-mail solicitation and offers to buy your aircraft. This
person offers to pay you $55,000, if you agree to send them a $5,000
...

Offering more than the asking price is highly suspicious in itself.
*Nobody* offers more than sticker.

They're not offering you more than asking, they're giving you a check for
more than asking and asking you for the difference in cash. Usually the
excuse is that they're getting this cashier's check from a third party and
rather than them cashing that one and writing another smaller one for you,
it would be faster and more convenient if you were to cash this one and
give them the difference.

This has been a frequent problem with on-line sales like ebay - the
scammer gets a chunk of cash, as well as the item you're selling. A
friend of mine lost a laptop and $2000 that way.

--
Paul Tomblin http://xcski.com/blogs/pt/
"American 999, Heathrow Approach. Descend and maintain 4,000 feet, QNH 1011."
"Uhhh Heathrow Approach, could you give us that in inches?"
"American 999, descend and maintain 48,000 inches, QNH 1011."