Too bad you missed that... it was probably legit.
I buy alot of things on CL... and I honestly don't worry about things being stolen, etc. If you waste time worrying and trying to mess with the price, more often than not, you'll lose out to someone else that didn't hesitate.
I just missed a $2,000 Horn cabinet on CL about a week ago. The dude was selling it for $150! It had been his mother's, and he didn't know what he had. When I called him, he already had someone else coming to look at it... (and it would take me at least 45 minutes to get there) ... so I told him that it was worth at least $500 if it wasn't banged up. So he got $500 from that buyer. (Nice to know I helped someone make an extra $350, huh?)
There are so many sewing machines out on CL... and most people selling something that they gained ownership of (in one weird way or another) don't know squat about what they are or what they're worth. And it swings both ways - some sellers see an outrageous ad that is attempting to sell an old machine on eBay for big (unrealistic) bucks so then they think that must be what their sm is worth and list it on CL for a similar price.