Escrow services
Escrow* services are good. People who offer to use them can usually be trusted. Both of these sentences are true, but what if the Escrow service itself is a bad egg?
A very common scam is the following:
You receive a big order from a customer, who tells you right away that he wants to use an Escrow service. Particularly when it is a new customer and the total of the order is high, this seems like a good idea, so you agree.
Your customer is telling you that he is using an Escrow service that is not known to you, but he supplies a web page and some certificates or even a proof of payment that he already made to you.
The web page of the Escrow service looks OK. You received the confirmation from that Escrow service that the money has been received, and that it will be released, once the goods have been received by your customer. Everything looks good until you don't hear anything from that Escrow service anymore.
You guessed it: Your customer and this service were most likely the same person, and you'll never see your goods again nor will you ever receive a payment for them.
Bottom line is: Stick with what you know, and if you don't know any Escrow services, look for the big ones like:
http://www.escrow.com - This is the "mother" of online Escrow services. Here are their tips on how to spot a fraudulent Escrow page: https://www.escrow.com/fic/ficspot.asp

Some other big escrow services are:
http://www.tripledeal.com
http://www.escrow-europa.com
http://www.iloxx.de
http://www.tradesecure.com.au

 

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*Escrow: The holding of money, goods or documents by a neutral third party prior to closing a business deal. For example: You receive an order from your customer. The customer pays the Escrow service, which in turn confirms, that the money was received. Only after that confirmation will you ship the goods. Once the customer receives the goods, the Escrow service releases the money to you