[Jobu]

I am very sorry to hear this. The crook knows that it isn't worth what you would have to pay a lawyer, or what it would take for you to appear in small claims court in his city. (I believe some small claims courts make you show up in person, you can't have a representative, so you get killed on travel costs. And even if you have a rep, then you are back to paying a lawyer ---- unless there is a very kind local Net54 member willing to appear on your behalf, which, now that I say it, is a possibility if the rules allow for it).

I am also not sure that this is mail fraud. The package was received. It was never sent back, but nothing ever happened at USPS. The guy just lied to his credit card company and completely left USPS out of it. This appears to be eBay and bank fraud, not mail fraud.

So, it seems the way to prevent this in the future would be to 1) never keep a Paypal balance - including immediate transfer of all sale proceeds to one's bank, and 2) have a single account number at the bank which is tied to Paypal and where the funds land, but then immediately transfer them to another account -- probably one at another bank to be extra safe. The problem here is then you have a negative Paypal balance, which means they will pay themselves back with your next transactions, and probably send the account to collections if you try to close it or let it go inactive. So I guess there really is no way to cover one's ass here.

Do you have card insurance? You might be able to file a claim with them.

Also, Larry replied as I typed this. I think pursuing it as he suggests is wise. And if you do have insurance, send them the same documentation about a potential claim just so that they have everything and you don't later find out that you waited too long to notify them of a loss if going through the Paypal process really might take three or more months.