I'm going to bump this thread, because I want to bring something else up that relates to the OP. I did competitive showjumping for 15 years and dealt with horses that were worth over $1 million. Most of the horses had insurance. My saddle has a GPS tracking device/microchip in it to prevent theft etc. While I completely understand the OP's concern etc, what I am curious about is if there is insurance you can buy for your snakes ... and considering how much people change their stock of snakes how it would work in terms of updating the policy to keep up with the collection of the policy holder.
As for the scams that buyers/sellers have- I am a highly experienced ebay seller and there will always be people trying to scam you-microchips or no microchips... while these extra precautions may lessen the chance of someone trying to scam you- in the end, when it comes to a het- it is going to be your word against theirs...