Can you press criminal charges for an items not received??

[CRAZY70MAN]

Just wondering??? Is it possible to press any criminal charges when you pay someone with a moneyorder and never receive the item? Anyone ever been down this route?? Any input welcome.

[El Camexican]

In many jurisdictions the fraud has to be for over $1,000 before they will look into it and money orders are not a good way to pay people you don't know. I wish you luck, but I don't like your odds on getting anything back.

[oldskool83]

No you can't. If you paid thru paypal you have to following the course of action. If you bought it thru craigslist and your out and then your out. Good luck and try to keep it cash in person.

[bkm]

Its tough if there is alot of distance between both parties. Is it a stealing, yes, but will it go anywhere, probably not.

If I was investigating the case and you lived within my jurisdiction, you would need proof of payment, corespondence between both parties, ie. emails, forum posts, ect, along with all of the possible information of the suspect. I would then create an incident report and attempt to contact the suspect myself. 99% of the time this step goes nowhere. If I can't get a hold of the person I would notify the Police Agency where he lives. Now this is where the road blocks and dead ends will come from. Unless you get a PD willing to get off thier 's, most are too small, too busy, or just don't give a damn. You might even get this from your own PD who really don't feel like helping.

Good luck. Test the waters at your local PD, but I've been in this business long enough to know you will probably get blown off by either your own PD, or the PD where the suspect lives.

As an investigator, I've even been given the run around and lack of cooperation from other PD's, so I feel your pain.

[redsox]

its gonna be different depending on each jurisdiction. it could probably be done, but you'd need some legal help. in many places, anyone can swear out a criminal complaint, not just the police. its becomes problematic because the system is not set up to accommodate such citizen charges and there is red tape and multiple forms. in the long run, i'd bet you'd spend more trying to recoup your loss than your actual loss. your best bet is to determine if there are other victims from the same offender. if so, type up a letter to your states attorney general's office with the names of the people that got screwed. they're more likely to handle things like that than your local police. good luck.

[bkm]

No you can't. If you paid thru paypal you have to following the course of action. If you bought it thru craigslist and your out and then your out. Good luck and try to keep it cash in person.

This is not true. If you list an item for sale, then take $$ for said item without sending or giving the item to the paying customer, this is stealing. If I walk into McDonalds and hand them a $5 bill for a a Big Mac meal and the look at me an say sorry we're all out, but your not getting your money back. Am I just Sh!t out of luck, or did they steal my $5?

[atc007]

Honestly Andy. The easiest thing to do is. Take care of it yourself. If you have his address,you can hopefully get,or have his phone #. Be relentless. Assuming this is a fairly small amount of $$. I hope.Sometimes it just becomes "worth it" to get his life back. Get a Gmail account if you're still paying for phone calls. You can call almost anywhere for free through Gmail. Call and call and call and call! That's if the PD doesn't take care of it for you. Good luck! Gotta LOVE scumbags don't we !!!

[manbearpig]

This is not true. If you list an item for sale, then take $$ for said item without sending or giving the item to the paying customer, this is stealing. If I walk into McDonalds and hand them a $5 bill for a a Big Mac meal and the look at me an say sorry we're all out, but your not getting your money back. Am I just Sh!t out of luck, or did they steal my $5?

where can i get a $5 big mac deal? thats a bargain!!

[sledcrazyinCT]

Well my opinion is if you sent the money order via US mail and it went over state lines then it is has become a federal offense. Still going to be an uphill battle getting a resolution via the cops or USPS, but you gotta give it a try.

Also I would enlist people on this forum who are local to the deadbeat seller to pay him a visit and tell him to hand over the goods you paid from and then have them ship the item to you.

On another forum a person from Alaska purchased a set of pipes for an old arctic cat EXT and the seller blew him off for about 5 months. He posted for help in the sellers local area and sure enough because it is such a small community into vintage sleds the seller was shocked when someone came in person to collect the pipes, he handed them right over so the guy in Alaska finally got his stuff just got screwed out of the shipping charges he paid initially.

good luck and hope it turns out right for you

[bkm]

where can i get a $5 big mac deal? thats a bargain!!

They were 4.99 for a regular around me, but its been a very long time since I have gotten one.

[ATC-Eric]

Call the local sheriffs office/highway patrol around the person, tell them what your going through, and see if they will pay the guy a visit. Not necessarily to deliver charges, or to arrest them, more so just a scare tactic at the very least. I know someone who has done this, with success.

[CRAZY70MAN]

Thanks for all the ideas. Sad to say it is a member on here.... It was only 42.00. I have made every attempt..email,calls,pm's.........just looking to go to the next step.

[redsox]

Thanks for all the ideas. Sad to say it is a member on here.... It was only 42.00. I have made every attempt..email,calls,pm's.........just looking to go to the next step.

that is a bummer. do you have an address for the guy? in this situation, semantics are important. what you CAN do, what you SHOULD BE ABLE to do and what is THE BEST THING to do are all different. i will say that the legal system is not your friend here and could give an S less about your $42 bucks. no way i take a $42 dollar hit without making a stink though. who is this guy? out him! someone must know him? why keep him anonymous if he's screwing you? lets have a name!

[kb0nly]

If its a bonafide USPS Postal Money Order purchased at a Post Office then you have some recourse, i have been down that road before. It can be filed as Mail Fraud, and theft by mail. It takes some paperwork, file a claim, etc. It took me about six months to get the money back, it was a money order for $100 but i got a refund on it.

Yeah i know Money Orders aren't the best option, but there is some people that just don't have PayPal and won't take a check or other means because they don't trust them from their end either. I have sent money orders to guys on forums before and no problems, and then one issue in all the years i had sent them off. So it happens, thats life unfortunately.

You still have the receipt portion of the money order? That is if it was a USPS Money Order, then you have the carbon copy. ALWAYS keep that until the item your paying for is in your hands. A lost money order in the mail can be claimed on for a refund as well, or if it never got cashed by the seller and you didnt get anything etc. Thats the first thing they do, check and see if its been cashed.

Also if its a USPS Money Order you can use this site to see if its been cashed.

https://mois.usps.com/pls/pmoisnp/mo...ernal_pkg.main

And then take the claims process from there. Been there done that!

Edit...

Missed the post that it was $42...

Still check and see if it was cashed, then if it was file a fraud claim. If its wasnt then file a refund claim.

[Mr. Clean]

Thanks for all the ideas. Sad to say it is a member on here.... It was only 42.00. I have made every attempt..email,calls,pm's.........just looking to go to the next step.

Need to expose the member so others do not get burned. Send fabiodriven the info so he can go thru his process before putting the member on the "list".