Careful with Avi & Co!

[Chewyyy]

Just had a really close shave with Avi & Co NY - here's how it panned out:

1. I send an email to their official sales email to inquire about the availability of a watch
2. I get a reply saying they have a brand new one available with box and papers
3. I ask for pictures but I'm told they can't send pictures until the payment is made because the watch is sealed (red flag #1)
4. I receive the bank wire details and they look pretty legit but I receive another email shortly after saying there's some trouble with the bank account (red flag #2)
5. I ask for a trusted checkout on Chrono24 but I'm told no and given the offer to pay by bitcoin and receive an additional discount because "they don't have to pay taxes on it" (red flag #3)
6. I'm super suspicious at this point, call up the shop and ask to speak to the guy I'd been interacting with over email
7. The guy (Joe Cohen) has no recollection of our exchanges, checks his system and immediately figures out that they've been hacked - he tells me I hadn't been speaking to anyone from Avi & Co this whole time even though it's their official email

For context, Avi & Co. is a brick and mortar shop down in Diamond District NY (43 W 47th St.) and have very good reviews on Chrono24 and E-Bay (apparently I can't post links because I'm too new )

You could argue whether this was actually a hack or if the company was trying to run a scam and decided to pull out when I called - I'm going to lean towards the former because Joe was courteous and transparent over the phone but make if it what you will.

Scary stuff to be honest, glad I got through it unscathed. Lesson is to be careful when doing business over email and to run away at the slightest of red flags, no matter how reputable the seller is.