I have bought four sewing machines on Kijiji (Canadian version of Craig's List) and I was worried about the same things. My son who buys and sells there all the time told me not to worry as the only people I would meet selling sewing machines were other sew crazy women or distraught family members trying to sell their deceased mother's sewing **** and that the bad guys don't deal in sewing machines. So far, I've met two of each group he described and no bad guys.