Posted on behalf of a Curta collector friend.....

Warning! There is a scam on eBay whereby a Curta not sold because the Reserve Price was not met, is offered to the bidders in a "Second Chance" email. This email is disquised as an eBay generated notification stating that the item was not sold because the reserve price was not reached (which is actually true), and the receiver of the email is given the option of notifying the "seller" of continued interest in the Curta.

If you respond to the email, you will receive an offer to buy the item direct and save eBay costs. The problem is that you will not be communicating with the eBay seller.

Be forewarned! This is a scam. You will be asked to send money before getting the Curta. Should you do so, you will lose all your money and never receive a Curta!

Such an email was sent to bidders of item 6141522309 (a mint Type I with original box and extra cannisters) which closed on January 5, 2005. The item was not sold because the reserve price had not been met. The high bidders received emails as described above.

Jack

In a followup to my original message...

As it happened, only a fews weeks later, I was the second highest bidder on another eBay offering. A few days after the bid closed, I received an offer to buy the item off eBay. I contacted the high bidder just to be certain, and discovered that he had already paid for and received the item.

And again, on Aug 13, 2005, I was offered a Curta sold on eBay in a second chance scam. I contacted the real seller to confirm the fact that the machine was sold and delivered to the original high bidder.