Lobo,

I am about 1/2 a step ahead of you and went down the dark path of scammers.  I went to Alibaba and found several vendors who have new and used rigs of various makes and models.  I have established a good relationship with two now who have sold me rigs (and delivered) pretty quickly (thanks to DHL Express).

There are a lot of scams out there for sure, I got bit.  As an FYI, they follow a similar pattern.  Attract you with an unrealistic price via an advertisement on Globalsources or Alibaba, get to you to talk to them via WhatsApp and then ask you for a Crypto payment which will get you a 10% discount.

Some later come back and ask for shipping or insurance, which should be negotiated up front.

Either way, don't do it.  Use Trade Assurance which is essentially an escrow service to protect you against giving money directly to the scammer / vendor. 

There is a lot of used equipment out on the market right now since most new are getting snapped up quickly.  Prices are high, even for pre-orders which if you want new is probably the best way to go right now so you have to be patient.

Let me know if you want contacts and I can pass them along.

David