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Hi, Silver. Great question. There are a few things you can do to verify whether/ not the seller actually has a snake or is on the up and up. The best course of action, for me, has been to NOT buy from someone who just joined, has very few posts, or has zero karma or zero/ negative reputation level. There are too many sellers out there with multiple references; for me, it's just not worth the risk.
To ensure they have the animal, ask for a pic with something odd in it (keys, today's paper, a remote control, etc.). It is pretty easy to google search pics and come up with a lot of the scammer's pics. Many people here will recognize a pic if it's from someone else's site. I ALWAYS steer clear of ads that don't post pics - it's too easy to attach an image these days. "Camera not working"? Then don't list it yet.
Never pay with a money order. Ever. Use paypal, which will offer you some protection. A scammer likely won't take paypal, but they could (chime in here, guys).
I think, in the end, ask for their full name, find out all you can about them. If there's no info at all (as you mentioned with the other seller), I always let other people be the guinea pig. It's just not worth the risk, to me.
Anyone who legitimately wants to sell animals should have invested the time and energy to build up a reputation and references before they try to sell here. If they haven't, I don't touch them.
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