Just a few months ago an attractive-looking barrel organ appeared on
eBay.  The asking price was reasonable and I added it to my "watching"
list.  The picture looked a little familiar so I started making
enquiries.

I also asked the seller a question or two and the evasive answers
I received aroused my suspicions.  It was listed as located in
Melbourne, Australia, not too far away from here; I contacted a friend
in that city asking him to inspect the organ.

Then the sky fell in.  The seller replied that the instrument was in
fact not in Melbourne but in Malaysia; his replies to my questions
became even more vague.  I was contacted by the Australian Mechanical
Music Society and Galen Bird.  The organ pictured was his, his wife's
picture also appeared, neither of them was for sale, and the whole thing
was an attempted scam by some unscrupulous crook.  I contacted eBay and
MMDigest and the mechanical music community was alerted.

Once again showing the power of this means of communication within the
community of mechanical music collectors.  Thanks guys: we watch each
other's backs as well as our own.

Michael Woolf
New Zealand