Posted By:
Frank Wakefield1- Start now. As bad as it is, it only gets worse with the passage of time.
2- If you actually know a police officer where you live, contact him AND try to contact law enforcement where the seller is. Those guys can contact the officer you know, so the police in Indiana will know you're legit. Use Mapquest to figure out where the guy is, and where the nearest police are. You can Google that department's contact information. I doubt if many departments have an 'online crime unit', maybe in big cities, but a bunch of America lives in small towns.
3- Contact Paypal, and your credit card if you used one. Get payment undone. If you get your money back, then leave the matter alone. You can't make him sell you the card.
4- You need to have attempted to resolve this with the seller. So a couple of emails, a phone call (you can get his information through eBay), and a letter would be in order. Keep a copy of all emails and any letters. Try this, don't necessarily expect it to work. And once you've tried it, leave it and focus on #2 above. To continue to pound away with emails will only frustrate you, and might clue the guy in on your strategies.
5- This situation isn't totally bad, if you learn from it. If you don't learn a lesson here, then it is way worse than it looks.