RIPOFF recourse - law enforcement / legal threats?

Hi guys, I know that several of you are in law enforcement. I am wondering if you would be willing to advise me on a matter involving a ripoff.

On a different forum I purchased an item (paying via PayPal) from a forum member who didn't send the item. Then, when I filed a PayPal fraud claim against him, he sent me a box with junk in it so he can give a UPS tracking number and say to PayPal that he "sent it" to me. Long story short, I've been ripped off for $200 and I'm pretty mad about it.

What would you say my legal and / or law enforcement recourse is to try to "encourage" the guy into refunding my money?? Is there a particular law enforcement agency I could contact where an officer could call him or pay him a visit and encourage him to make a refund in order to avoid my taking further legal action?

I realize I may be out of luck, but want to at least try to shame / scare this loser into doing the right thing and refunding my money. I also realize this is small potatoes in the grand scheme of lawbreaking that cops care about, but you never know.

Any advice or help you could offer would be most appreciated. The deadbeat lives in Gibson, Louisiana.

Many thanks and best regards,

Dave

Re: RIPOFF recourse - law enforcement / legal thre

wouldn't it be possible to let you CC compayn reclaim your $$ from paypal from you?
that is why I always use CC paypal ... it's safer.
bernhard

Re: RIPOFF recourse - law enforcement / legal thre

Good question. But I paid with funds that were already sitting in my PayPal account, and there wasn't an "insurance" option on the transaction.

Additional info: the seller is a "verified" PayPal member, whatever that's worth. And I did file a PayPal fraud claim that is still open. But because he shipped me a box and can prove it, I'm not too optimistic about what PayPal will do for me.

Thanks,

Dave

Re: RIPOFF recourse - law enforcement / legal thre

Hi avusblue. I am neither a law enforcement officer nor a lawyer, but I am posting some language (which got results) that I sent to a landlord that I had many years ago who ignored 2 prior letters: "As of Month Xth, XXXX, I have not received a refund from XXX Group for this amount. If I do not receive a refund for $XXX.00 by Month Xth, XXXX, I will be forced to commence legal action in an attempt to recover this amount. Furthermore, I will file a formal complaint with the Better Business Bureau, along with any state, county, or local government agencies that regulate rental properties in <name of town, county or area>. Thank you." Of course, the letter should explain your situation, (even though this guy knows your situation), and you should keep a copy of it. Sending it so that he has to sign for this letter would help, too. You also should be able to file a fraud report with your local police. Check into it. Hope this helps.

Re: RIPOFF recourse - law enforcement / legal thre

Internet Fraud Complaint Center

Re: RIPOFF recourse - law enforcement / legal thre

My advice? Sh!t happens. Forget about it. I've been ripped off twice on internet transactions in the last five years, one with a money order for around $300, and one with Paypal and ebay for $20. I figure I've saved many times the amount I've lost by buying things online/winning auctions, and don't let it get to me. People are going to try and rip you off, whether it is on the internet or in person. Maybe be more careful next time (sounds like you were though), and shake it off. Most likely you will expend a lot of time, energy, and anger, and get no-where.

-Keith

Re: RIPOFF recourse - law enforcement / legal thre

There are a few thing to keep in mind when dealing with PayPal. First of all PayPal was created to operate in a regulatory black hole that exists between a Financial Services Company like a stock brokerage, and a Financial institution like a Bank. It was created and carefully crafted to live in the space in between, which is devoid of regulatory controls or oversight. If you ever read the PayPal guarantees carefully you discover they have more holes in them than a screen door, as a result you are likely to discover that the recourse you thought you had with PayPal doesn't really exist. When you are defrauded you are likely to get a message along the lines of we found in your favour, but we are unable to recover the funds from the recipient..

This leads to a very important piece of advice. NEVER EVER PAY FOR ANYTHING ON PAYPAL with a Debit card, a PayPal Balance, or an e-Check. Always pay by credit card. Even if PayPal doesn't provide recourse or refunds, under the Federal Fair Credit and Fair Billing Acts, you do have recourse through the credit card company.

You are required under PayPal rules to file a complaint with PayPal first, but once you do so, there is absolutely nothing PayPal can do to prevent you from filing a claim with the credit card issuer, there are somethings that cannot be taken away, and one of them is your legal right to dispute credit card charges.

ONe of the reasons the PayPal fees are pretty high (and going a LOT higher next year) is to cover such claims (and to enrich PayPal's owners, eBay).

In fact one of the reasons that eBay bought PayPal was to get rid of Billpoint. Because Billpoint was partially owned by Wells Fargo Bank, even though Billpoint was outside of regulatory reach, Wells Fargo was NOT out of regulatory reach, and as such Wells Fargo partial ownership, and the fact that Billpoint was actually operated by Wells Fargo, effectively meant that Billpoint was subject to regulatory control and oversight. That is the long and the short of why Billpoint disappeared.

Re: RIPOFF recourse - law enforcement / legal thre

1. Contact the POsta Inspectors
2. Contact the District Attorney for the Parrish (same as a county, but in Louisiana counties are parrishes)in which the guy resides

--dan

Re: RIPOFF recourse - law enforcement / legal thre

I would suggest posting the cockbags username, real name and what forum this occured in.
Oh and you're feeling really teed off and everything else fails, give his email out to every company on the web that sends out spam...

Re: RIPOFF recourse - law enforcement / legal thre

Not a lawyer, but if it were me:

- You can try the aforementioned Internet Fraud Center, but that's just a clearing house that (maybe) will forward it somewhere.
- Keep after Paypal, you'll need the documentation if nothing else.
- Save all the shipping stuff. Hopefully you haven't handled the junk inside. It would be handy to get the shipper's fingerprints off both the wrapping and the contents as proof he sent it. That doesn't prove he didn't send you the mechandise, but it would sure raise a lot of questions to a DA.
- If any part of the transaction involved the USPS, contact your local Postal Inspector.
- Consult with an attorney about filing a small claims action against the shipper in his (or your) local court. You'll probably win, but collecting may be a hassle.
- Try your local police (see if they have a computer crimes squad or task force.) Getting the FBI to open a case on a $200 dispute will be pretty unlikely, so unless you've got a sympathatic local cop, you may not get much help. If you've got good documentation on the guy's identity, perhaps they'll contact their counterparts in his area. Maybe you'll luck out and they are looking for something to pick him up on, or he's on parole or something.

- Figure out what your time's worth. You could spend a lot more than $200 in direct costs, not to mention time, getting to the bottom of this.

- I would not recommend any kind of internet vigilante justice. You may wind up breaking a criminal law yourself, or on the back end of a civil suit.

Best of luck and sorry to hear you got scammed.

Bob

Re: RIPOFF recourse - law enforcement / legal thre

For what it's worth, you can contest your bank draft and win your money back. Paypal will then charge it to your charge card. Makes no difference if you have filed a Paypal report and have "won" a claim, paypal still wants the money, one way or another.

P.S. - in my case, the paypal'er did not have any available funds to obtain my money from, so "winning" a paypal claim was not worth anything.