scammed on the internet.....

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DETAILKING

New member
Well we were scammed out of 300 dollars. It was an ebay auction but the transaction was completed outside ebay. A money order was sent and the buyer bought time by giving us a fake tracking number.



I tracked down the residence and the people there are not cooporative....they claim the girl that is behind this was her sons girlfriend that they took in but moved out last week and they dont know where she is. I don't know if I believe them but now they just hang up when I call and are not being cooporative and that was the address I sent the money to. Police won't help, they said unless its over 50K they can't do anything about it because they would have millions of cases like this to investigate. So basically they will get away with it????



If anyone has any experience with this or any ideas on what else I can do I am open for suggestions. The problem is that they are located across the country in Las Vegas.......I'd love to knock on their door myself!!!
 
Eee. Did you ship the item before getting payment?



I usually ONLY accept Paypal... but I have done a single Western Union money order under special circumstances (I had the buyer give me his phone number and I talked to him directly). I also contacted other reputable sellers he had done business with.



I then made sure I had the money order, and cashed it where I got it from. I then deposited the CASH at my bank.



THEN I shipped the item.



Usually, money orders are never legimate. This goes with personal checks as well.



Paypal sucks too, but at least its a slight bit more secure. What you want to do is unlink cards, and then once you receive payments, withdraw it to your bank account immediately. Then, unlink that account from paypal. Never give paypal recourse because they will steal money from you when they feel like it.



However, I'm not sure you have many options anymore. Since it was completed outside eBay, I'm guessing eBay won't be too cooperative. As you said, your local police aren't willing to help you, either.



Plus, I'm sure that if you keep asking them, they'll try to sue you for harassment or whatever - they'll find any excuse to scam even more money out of you, so be careful.



I'm really sorry this happened, but I don't think there is anything else to do. Just be careful in the future I suppose :(
 
Detailking...I work for the Post Office...and it sounds like mail fraud....try to call the Postal inspection office and explain to them....they may help...I hope it works out for you....



AL
 
thanks for your comments. Actually we were the buyer, I made a typo in my original post. We sent the money order but never got the goods!!!
 
Here's what you do: file a copmplaint with the FBI here http://www.ic3.gov and let them do the work. They WILL investigate it. I was defrauded a few years ago and filed a complaint. About a year later I get a call from the DA's office in Seattle that the guy who defrauded me also defrauded many others. he was now in jail and I will start receiving checks. Sure enough I started getting checks for small amounts, like $4, $10, etc. I took about a year but I got my money back!
 
DETAILKING said:
Well we were scammed out of 300 dollars. It was an ebay auction but the transaction was completed outside ebay.
Click to expand...



This should have been the warning sign. Anyone wanting to take the transaction outside of ebay should be looked at very carefully. According to the professional advice I've heard on this subject, you never ever want to take a transaction out of ebay or you're just setting yourself up. That's how the scammers win. Plus, ebay would have fraud protection for you and would eliminate the losers, so the scammers will always want to subvert ebay for some reason. Also, I wouldn't ever send money orders...that's a sure way to get suckered. Paypal or credit only, so that you have recourse.



Just like I'm sure they gave you excuses as to why they wanted to go outside ebay, they will give you nothing but more excuses and lies about why you will not get your money back. Liars and thieves are just that, liars and thieves. As mentioned, your best bet would be file a complaint with the feds or just suck this one up to an expensive lesson. It's really unfortunate that there are so many idiots in this world that thrive on scams. They will get theirs some day...



Hope you can get this worked out, but I have a feeling you won't see the money again. :(
 
TigerMike said:
This should have been the warning sign. Anyone wanting to take the transaction outside of ebay should be looked at very carefully. According to the professional advice I've heard on this subject, you never ever want to take a transaction out of ebay or you're just setting yourself up. That's how the scammers win. Plus, ebay would have fraud protection for you and would eliminate the losers, so the scammers will always want to subvert ebay for some reason. Also, I wouldn't ever send money orders...that's a sure way to get suckered. Paypal or credit only, so that you have recourse.



Just like I'm sure they gave you excuses as to why they wanted to go outside ebay, they will give you nothing but more excuses and lies about why you will not get your money back. Liars and thieves are just that, liars and thieves. As mentioned, your best bet would be file a complaint with the feds or just suck this one up to an expensive lesson. It's really unfortunate that there are so many idiots in this world that thrive on scams. They will get theirs some day...



Hope you can get this worked out, but I have a feeling you won't see the money again. :(
Click to expand...



Indeed - and I'd also like to modify my advice since it seems our OP was the buyer.



The best way to protect yourself when buying (although I realize this advice is too late) is to purchase the product via paypal, but via credit card on PayPal. Do not, under any circumstances, transfer money into your paypal account and use that balance.



If you do that - you are at the mercy of paypal - NOT a good place to be.



In this situation, you could have actually just disputed the charge on your card. Card companies are on your side (paypal isn't).
 
don't feel bad. i was new to ebay a couple of years ago and got scammed for $650. it was an expensive learning experience. (schooling does cost money you know). i just am glad that it wasn't more because it very well could have been triple that. :furious:



my mentor told me many years ago: "learning is a very painfull process some times".:cry:
 
Mail Fraud takes time, but works!



I did this a while ago for an aero kit. A few months later, we got our money back and a little after that, a free aero kit :).
 
I believe its a felony to illegally cash a Postal Money Order. I would talk to the Post Office and see if they will investigate it.



If you get to wit's end where it looks like no one will investigate, I'd draft up an "attorney looking" letter explaining to them that unless this situation is resolved within 30 days that the full force of the law will be coming after them and felony charges will be issued against them. (Scare 'em into paying ya, it might work)
 
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