Originally Posted by
Atlas Shrugged
As for the usual suspects advising you not to pay or its a scam is expected. Asking for advice on these forums is like getting investment advice from a Taxi driver questionable at best.
I'm too lazy to scroll through this whole thread, but I think the advice was verify it before you pay it, not don't verify it and don't pay it. There are a lot of fairly sophisticated scams out there (I have clients who have fallen for them), so that verification is still sound advice. OP didn't follow that advice.
ETA--actually went back and checked. There was the one "definitely a scam" guy, but even the "almost certainly not a scam" people were suggesting verification.
Most of the advice was sound, and if the OP had followed it, collection agents would not have been summoned.