Posted By:
Red"I know this is kind of obvious....but if you paid with a credit card, have you tried to get the card company to reverse the charge? I know from experience that amex has been very helpful to me and my dad in dealing with fraudulent purchases."
Part of the problem is that many people know they're taking foolish chances on questionable deals because they know their credit card company will back them up if something goes wrong. Very few real low-level scammers like you'll encounter in most of these deals will be setup to accept credit cards themselves. They'll usually be setup with PAYPAL and you'll buy knowing that PAYPAL or your credit card company will back you up.
The good thing is that you will get your money back. The bad thing is that the scammer was probably smart enough to take his money and run. So who loses out? Your credit card company or PAYPAL. The scammer just sets up another account and gets the next guy.
Just think about how many fewer scams would be able to be pulled off if you had to go into a questionable deal knowing you had to completely trust the seller and have no hope at all of getting your money back if something goes wrong. You would think a little more, ask a few more questions, and quicker walk away from deals that sound too good to be true.