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Sounds like you handled this as well as possible. It appears he hoped you would send the blade and then ask for payment when it was too late. Good that you had a prerequisite of payment before sending the blade.
I really feel the way Jimbob feels about scammers as well. But I know, even if the information is put out there, I can't get everyone to read and know how to handle something like this. And part of scamming is, the scammers are slick enough to make people think it is not a scam.
It is really frustrating, with the internet that, this stuff is so easy to get away with.
I normally have that prerequisite but in this case he had a good reputation on Mytt and we even had some mutual acquaintances so I thought I could trust him. I think something must've happen that caused him to change his behavior.
Well, given hipnotic's excellent reputation as a blade builder, he could very probably sell that Innerforce ZLC to someone else who does not care that much about the peruvian colors, could he not? Or he could remove the handle caps and replace them with "neutral" looking ones.
As for the scammers: Some of course are smart enough to change their modus operandi from time to time, i.e. whenever it's necessary. You cannot avoid them 100% of the time.
It can also be the flag of Canada! Or even Austria! With a little imagination Denmark can work too, it's a very versatile blade
I really didn't want to remove the handle on this one. The handles on commercial blades are relatively easy to remove but not on my blades so I fear I might ruin it.