Sounds like good advice.  The problem is if we could all spot con-artists, there wouldn't be any.  I've never lost money to anybody that I didn't think I could trust when the transaction took place.  I have been burned a few times, including by a dairy farmer for 2 semi loads and a smaller trailer load of hay.  If I hadn't thought I could trust him, it never would have happened.  Now I do what I feel I need to do to be comfortable with the transaction.  If that means cash, then that's the way I handle the deal.

Mike