I think I just got robbed..

[koaftder]

Hello guys,

I spotted an Amiga 500 on craigslist about a month ago in Greensboro NC which is about 2 ½ hours away from where I live (Chesapeake VA). I used to own one when I was a teenager, but had to sell it. I have always loved the 500 out of all the other Amigas so when I saw it, I want to own one again to have those memories back.

I asked the seller if he was willing to ship it if I paid for the S&H. He agreed and we decided on a price of $50 for the unit and $20 for the shipping and handling. I asked for a form of payment but the fastest one was via MoneyGram. I sent him the payment but since then he has not sent the unit, nor is he returning my calls. It has been almost a month but he is not returning my calls. I have his address and all the e-mail exchange log. Now my question is (maybe someone here is a lawyer). Do I start legal action? Is it worth it? I mean this is so sad that he steals $70, when I have his phone number, email address, home address and facebook page. What do you guys think?

I guess I learned my lesson about sending money like this to un-trusted people and I decided to buy an eMac 1.25Ghz on eBay for $29.94, which I plan on using with MorphOS, but that is story for another post.

Contact the police in the district you live in and ask if you can file charges on the guy. If they let you do it he'll have to go to court. If he doesn't show up he'll have a warrant out for his arrest. I'm no legal expert, but this is fraud right? Fraud is a crime. If he gets brought before a judge, the judge will probably order the guy to pay you restitution. So call the police department and see what they can do for you.

[koaftder]

You won't get the court application fee back (probably around a $100) but you will have the satisfaction of winning in court. So let's say 6 months till the hearing. Another 6 months after that they will garnish his wages and you will finally get your money.

In the US, and in North Carolina specifically, I don't think you have to pay to press charges on someone. It's ridiculous actually, here you can just make something up, press charges and that person will have to appear in court and when the bogus charge is thrown out, it stays on your record permanently. That happened to me 15 years ago. Me and another fellow had a dispute about money and a week later he showed up at my place of employment, full of people, called the cops and said I threatened to kill him. He pressed charges when the police arrived and I had to appear in court. He didn't show up and the judge threw it out, though the incident is still on my damn record. (not guilty of course). Now every employer who does a background check on me will see a charge for "communicating threats" even though the event never happened.

[koaftder]

Hmmmm good ones guys. Thanks! I thought I was out of luck since the money was sent via Moneygram and have literally no receipt. I do however have all the email correspondence from him giving me the price, his home address, his phone number etc. I am going to wait till the end of the month and leave him a message telling him my plan of action.

I wouldn't contact him at all, that will just give him ample time to plot a defense to make you look like a liar. I'd just file the charges and hope he's stupid enough not to appear. You'll get yours in the end.