Legal or street-legal advice needed: how do I deal with a (hypothetical) crook?

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Posted By: HalleyGator

Thanks, Jay ... for making me put on my lawyer's hat when I am trying NOT to work by reading the internet!!

This is NOT a situation where insurance will apply, since you admit that the package arrived in a sealed and unopened condition. The only guarantee is that the package will arrive intact, and it did indeed do that.

This boils down to a case of conversion (which is a different way of saying "theft", since he didn't really "steal" your money in the literal sense), and your recourse would be to call the State Attorney's office in the city where this person lives to file charges against him.

Unfortunately, this boils down to a "he said, he said" circumstance, so the prosecutor may not be too interested in pursuing your case vigorously (since he is worried about his conviction rate), but he or she will have no choice but to follow through if you decide to press charges.

It comes down to this: You may not be able to prove to a jury "beyond a reasonable doubt" that the card was never shipped ... but he may also not want to spend the time and money fighting criminal charges and hiring an attorney over $400.

I would let him know that you are going to pursue this avenue if he does not refund your money within 5 days, and that you may also talk to Federal officials since mail fraud is a Federal offense. My guess is that he will offer you something like $200 to call it even.

My professional advice would be to take it and be done with it. A $200 loss is nothing to sneeze at ... but giving him negative feedback and a bad name on these boards might cushion the blow some.