Almost...double scammed

Hello, this is a long story, so bear with me!
12/22/10: I received a message on my etsy account stating:

"buyer": I saw your item on etsy and am ready to purchase the item with buy it now option.before i proceed. 1.do you still have the item available ?.2.can you tell me the final price of the item.3. can you tell me present condition of the item.4.i can only issue money order or cashier check or personal check for mode of payment and you can verify my payment before you let go of the item.5.i will handle the shipping.6. kindly provide your NAME and ADDRESS with phone number to issue the payment.get back to me. stay bless. All is well.

I thought this was odd, but e-mailed the person anyways.

12/23/10: A reply back from the "buyer"

"buyer": thank you for your respond toward this transaction. how is the condition of the item? bcos i don't want any damage to the item.payment on the way already. I could have allow you to ship the item yourself but i want the item to deliver to me in time bcos of new year and beside i have my agent that help me to pickup items bcos i still have some item i wanted to pickup alongside yours in state. when you receive the payment kindly cash the check and deduct your item money from the payment plus additional 25d0llars given to you for holding the item for me and help me send the rest of the funds to the picker so that they can come for the pickup of the item at your connivance time at your own time. I want the item pickup before before new year.Hope you understand it. stay bless. have a wonderful day

I hear nothing for a few weeks and then...(at this point I stop responding)

1/2/11
"buyer": payment on the way for you. notify me when you receive it.. yes. i need the jar

1/16/11
"buyer": Am sorry, you should have receive the payment but the problem as due to the snow. you will receive the payment this week by God grace.I had added 25dollars for the delay for you. stay bless. be calm

1/26/11
"buyer": I just want to let you know that the payment will deliver to you this week unfailingly. The tracking number will be given to you as soon as possible. when you receive the payment kindly get it cash and deduct the cost of your item from it plus additional 25dollars given to you for holding the item for me. the rest of the left should be send to the picker that is coming for the pickup of the item via western union money transfer so that he can come for the pickup of the item at your convenience time. hope you get it. stay bless. get back to me as soon as you receive the payment.

1/28/11
My gmail is hacked by someone with a Nigerian IP address! An e-mail is sent out saying that I have been mugged in London and need $1500 wired to me. Overall, a headache, but no damage is done.

2/21/11
"buyer": i just want to let you know that your payment has been issued and sent to you via regular mail from united kingdom.you will receive it this week unfailingly. when you receive the payment kindly notify me and make sure you complete the transaction so that the picker can come for the pickup of the item. how is the condition of the item?

2/22/11
I receive a check in the mail for $1700! A few things are strange, there is no return address on the envelope and no letter inside. The check is from:
Dianne Neale
1521 south 11 street
saint joseph, MO 64503
896756745

Notice the telephone number is missing one number and that the street and city are not capitalized. Actually, I found this site by googleing Dianna Neale and came across a similar scheme. I searched for the location of the IP addresses where the e-mails came from and they are from Nigeria also. Do you think that my gmail was hacked by this same person? I'm just glad I didn't lose any money in this!

There's no way to tell whether or not the two instances are connected Sophia815.

Unfortunately 419 internet scams and fraud are now so common and widespread it's quite possible that it's just a coincidence. 8 of the 10 UK apartments for rental on craigslist today are scams and that's a measure of how careful you have to be. The greater danger is that it's going to become difficult to know the genuine traders from scammers in the future.

The one you dealt with is writing in a style clearly West African to anyone used to seeing their mails, but it's harder to spot if the intended victim isn't familiar with scams or not a native English speaker themselves. Scammers adapt quickly and you can't even take a mail in perfect English as a guide to it not coming from a scammer.

Above all, you must never allow your eagerness to clinch a deal overcome your need to be cautious and check it out. If 90% of victims had taken the opportunity to think through what they're getting involved in before they paid out any cash scammers would find it much harder, but even the dumbest ones can make a good living out of 419 scams.

Scammers offering counterfeit cheques expect to have a low pick up rate and will send out thousands of template purchase offers, so you aren't special to have received this type of mail. It's probably a greater surprise that you haven't received one before.

Notice that he/she refers to your "item" and doesn't name it specifically. That's because he's sending the exact same mail to anyone selling anything, from a second hand car to a fishing rod. He isn't even after the goods you're selling. He gets his money from persuading you to bank his counterfeit cheque and getting you to pay a part of it back to him by Western Union. The identity and location of the fake beneficiary are irrelevant at the outlet in Africa he'll go to to pick up your cash.

Once you bite, then he'll get interested and send personalised mails, often not having a clue as to what you're selling, but that's not his focus.