Yes, there are thieves, crooks, and scammers around every corner these days.
I regrettably did not keep any sort of ledger of sales in the last 20 years, but I have conservatively dealt with 250 to 350 individual De Tomaso owners in those years; couple hundred owners here in the USA and a couple dozen around the world from Norway to New Zealand. Dozens of times, my package was on its way before my payment had been received
I have only had a couple of troublesome transactions, both of which were resolved to my satisfaction.
The point I am hoping to make here is that amongst the REAL De Tomaso community, one can feel pretty safe and secure the transaction will be fair and honest.
Larry