I have been scammed out of $7200.00

[MP Guy]

I purchased a Canon 1DSII from some guy in San Diego. Payed him with paypal and I never received the goods. He emailed me receipts from the post office which the post office say they have no record of. I think this is a federal offense now. I have his name and number and will need to contact the authorities next week. If anyone here is in law enforcement and has some pointers for me I would really appreciate it.

The worst part is that my wife now knows of my secret camera funds 🙁

 

[rover]

Contact your postmaster as well as the police in this matter. I believe the Post Office falls under a special jurisdiction.

Of course, for $7,200 I may have to contact a family member too.

 

[Traut]

Can you cancel the credit card transfer? Ask your bank for help if it was a cash transfer. Depending on your banking relationship it might help. Also, in the future keep one thing in mind - escrow, escrow, escrow

 

[MP Guy]

Sent him money via paypal.

 

[Socke]

rover, a more remote family member, I'd call my godfather to make the seller an offer he can't resist 🙂

 

[rover]

Get Pay Pal involved too if you don't have relatives named Vinny or Vito.

Might as well tell everyone you can and solicit help from them, they can only say no.

 

[stet]

holy, that's horrible. Call the cops, and file with these links:

http://www.usps.com/postalinspectors/fraud/
http://www.ifccfbi.gov/index.asp

nail the bastard.

 

[Socke]

Knock on wood, I've been lucky so far. Only once I bought a second hand encyclopedia via Amazon Marketplace which wasn't delivered and the seller didn't respond to email.

Amazon reimbursed my money although I was way beyond the 90 day insurance period.

 

[tekgypsy]

if he is showing bogus receipts from the post office then that makes it Postal Fraud and Uncle Sugar takes a real dim view of such carryings on.... definitely talk to the post office... the Postal Inspection Service has weird kinda legal authority over such things and will definitely take an interest


anecdote.. once upon a time when i was working at the USPS Data Center in San Mateo CA i had to wait for Postal Inspector Approval even tho i had just come off a government contract requiring high level security clearances... apparently Postal Inspection Service approval trumps FBI Background Investigations.... kinda made me think of Johnny Fever's Phone Cops...

go to the Postal Inspectors

 

[vsolanoy]

Did you make the purchase through eBay? eBay has buyer protection... if it's outside of eBay, my understanding is that Pay Pal can be difficult to deal with. There was a news story on that in the San Francisco Bay Area just a few weeks ago on this very subject. If you purchased with a credit card, your credit card company offers protections on things like this, but I don't know what policies are in place for services like PayPal.

Sorry to hear about it...

 

[reagan]

and if all else fails, refer to tekgypsy's sig for encouragement.

 

[back alley]

i can't even imagine...yeah, cousin guido would get a call, fa sure!

joe

 

[aizan]

anyone here in san diego? the secret, international crime syndicate "rff" can arrange a hit on this scam artist. 😀

 

[DaShiv]

Jorge, can I ask where you met the seller? If it's at a community site like RFF or FM, the perp should definitely be called out and run out of town, in addition to bringing law enforcement into the picture of course.

Hope you get your money back soon!

 

[Fedzilla_Bob]

I Live in San Diego, but I'm not all that intimidating (even if urban kids have told me I look like a cop).

Is there any way I can help by virtue of my location? I will ask around here. Maybe I can help by seeing if the local PD has a fraud squad. No doubt having the local state and federal authorities on his a$$ will convince the jerk to cough up the funds.

 

[NoTx]

Same here. I am in San Marcos, north county San Diego.

 

[doubs43]

Jorge, there's little I can add to what has already been said. I feel awful for you and sincerely hope that you're able to either get the camera you paid for or your money back.

I also believe that mail fraud has been committed and you should receive help from the USPS in prosecuting the scumbag who did this.

Best of luck to you in getting this resolved. Keep us posted.

Walker

 

[Scarpia]

I truly sympathize with your plight Jorge. The advice already given with regard to the postal police and investigators as well as other government agencies is excellent and I cannot add anything to that. However, one thing I can tell you. Sooner or later wives find out everything, believe me I know. You have my heartfelt sympathy as well as the hope that this will be resolved in your favor.
Kurt M.

 

[rovnguy]

Caveat emptor.

 

[Alex Shishin]

Sorry to hear about this, Jorge. Good advise on getting at this scumbag. You need to work quickly. This guy is either a total idiot or a very shrew scam artist. Hope for the former, though the latter invariably trip themselves up.