I would imagine you could possibly write off the loss on your taxes next year? (Ask your CPA). Though I'm sure you would need a police report for that. Call the police! I still can't understand why you wouldn't want to get them involved.

the police will probably not help, your best bet is to find out the name of the postal inspector in your area since money was sent in the mail. My mother in law was scammed out of thousands of dollars, first she thought she won something and needed to send money to collect the big prize, then it was to pay for storage, then it was someone acting like they were not part of it, telling her they were from the US fraud department and they were informing her that she had been scammed but they could help her if she sent them $8,000.00 she did not have that much cash so they "settled for $2,000.00 but when she went to the bank to get the cash to send via a money order from the grocery store the bank caught on to what was going on and called in the postal inspector who was able to intercept the last money that was sent. Postal Inspectors are like the police or FBI for these type of situations, they can arrest people and so forth. These people/scammers suck you in and then keep building a case a little at a time by using a hook. It's your choice you can either keep posting and complaining about it or actually do something about it that that matters like call the post office and get in touch with the postal inspector. But honestly I don't think you are willing to face the truth and move on, so you are doing what everyone else does that gets suckered does you are keeping a dialogue going with them and believe me you will never win.

I never heard of the postal inspector doing anything. It's hard to even talk to the Post Master General when they smashed and ruined a package I sent. But I agree with what I bolded above. I don't think the OP is going to do anything but complain on here; which we cannot do anything.

While I feel for you on your ruined package, fraud is treated differently. Here in Metro Detroit they have a whole unit devoted to it. Had the postal inspector not gotten involved my MIL (Grace) might still be sending cash and money orders to who knows where. The inspector assigned to MIL's case was wonderful she spent hours going over Grace's checking and visa account, she went to the bank with her, got her to close her account, set up alerts on her accounts, helped her change her telephone number. She gave Grace DVD's and literature made by the post office detailing all the types of scams out there. Called us (my MIL might never had). Then she put a gal in touch with us that was also a postal employee in the fraud department that was a therapist type counselor and she followed up every week for a month talking and explaining things to Grace who still was not 100% convinced it was a scam. And get this after the first week of the postal inspector working with Grace she did it again this time with $2,500.00 in cash sent through Fed X. The bank notified the postal inspector that more cash was withdrawn from the account and even though this was not really the inspectors responsibility she got in touch with her peers at Fed X security and helped us get that package recalled. When the money was returned that had been sent to the post office boxes, the inspector personally met my SIL and MIL at the bank with the checks. LOL I never thought I would be singing the praise of the Post Office but in this instance the went over and above the call of duty. I will say I think they took pity on Grace because she is elderly and cries easily but I still think they take catching and preventing fraud seriously.

Thats how my little miss sunshine came into my life. She found me!! I had lost my beloved Shih Tzu George at 15 yrs old, and was devastated. A friend of mine knew of a Yorkie puppy who had a birth defect so the breeder was surrendering her to a rescue. I said I would take her sight unseen!! Its a match made in Heaven:) Pretty sure my Georgie had something to do with putting us together. Sunni is the sweetest, most fun puppy I've ever had in my life..lol. She keeps me on my toes for sure!

This absolutely falls under the Postal Inspector jurisdiction. They have the authority (they are on the federal level) to investigate, serve warrants and arrest people for wire fraud. They carry guns!. If you ares serious about wanting to get your money back and trying to prevent this from happening to other people then you need to do something besides post here. Don't let those A$$holes get away with this !

Also being on a federal level they can work cases all over the country. If you call the local police on something like this there is not much then can or will do since the scammer is not in their coverage area.

Here is a big case involving Facebook that is in the news right now, much of the investigation was headed by the US postal service

Paul Ceglia Arrested In What Prosecutors Allege To Be A Multibillion-Dollar Scheme To Cheat Facebook

Sorry that's messed up

Ah, I see the difference now! Now I understand why when I went to get a PO box they asked for two forms of ID and my car registration. They said they need the car registration bc they can't stop my ID but can stop my car. I was like, what in the heck?! What do you think I am doing with the PO box?

That's a common scam they've been doing for a while. Somebody tried it on me recently and I realized just before sending him money it had to be a rip-off. I had the emails from this guy though and his number so I tracked his IP address & mobile phone info. We reported him to the IC3 but I was scared he might keep ripping off people in the meantime, especially considering I don't think the IC3 even takes small profit internet scams that seriously. So just in case I did some investigative work of my own to keep other people from getting screwed. With his IP & phone# I could see the service he uses for phone & internet and the town he lives in, also googled the IP address and found other scams he was doing including listing cars, advertising investments with gold mines, etc. Then had my husband give the a**hole a call from his work phone informing him that he was with the IC3 and they were actively investigating his fraud activities due to many reports, and that they had files on his puppy, gold, and car scams, and Google Fiber, Metro PCS, and the Gulf Shores PD (his hometown) were watching him very closely and that he would be arrested for fraud if the postings continued or if any of the customers they contact from his email/phone records tell the IC3 he successfully scammed money off them.
The guy was scared sh*tless and when I texted again saying I was ready to pay, he admitted being fake and said he didn't have anything to sell anymore. Had a friend email him about the ad too and she got the same response. All his ads were taken down and haven't seen a single scam come up from his IP. So I think I may have saved at least a few people from getting disappointed and scammed. Took some effort but I couldn't stand thinking that there were kids and elderly people out there waiting happily for a doggy that would never come :(

For future references, always look to local breeders you can meet in person first. If you're getting from anyone online, look for reviews, Vet references, etc. Good luck. So sorry you had to go through this. Definitely report it to the IC3.

Super cool !

LOL! You definitely don't pull any punches. Loved this advice.

Woo Hoo! You are brilliant.

Dayum! GO KAY! :thumbup:

I made a long post earlier about my experience with a scammer, and tips to avoid them.
One more big one I forgot to add (sorry if it's already been mentioned, haven't read the whole thread):
If someone online asks for a deposit on a puppy or asks that you pay them online or by card or something, NEVER use money orders, western union, etc etc. Even if you trust the person and have proof the pups exist. ALWAYS put it on a credit card. Insist 100% on doing it through paypal or with a card. You may not know this, but you can pay somebody through paypal with a credit card and not your bank account. Add a card to your paypal and when the person sends an invoice for the amount you owe, you can select to pay it through your credit card rather than straight from your bank account or a debit card.
Reason being, it's way way more simple to get refunds that way. Even if the person won't give you the money back, most credit card companies will get rid of any charges that constitute as theft or fraud. Had an instance where my daughter (w/ my permission) ordered food online with our family card at a friends house for them during their sleepover. She didn't close the tab after and later that "friend" ordered hundreds of dollars worth of food over the course of a month on our account with our card. We found out and called Visa who promptly removed every charge and reimbursed us. Because that was fraud/theft.

If you buy a dog on a credit card and you were scammed, that is also fraud. It's possible not all card companies will reimburse for that considering the nature of the fraud, but some definitely will. I know someone who ordered a puppy on some website and they never sent it, she reported it and the $800 charge was removed so she never paid it. They do a little investigating though, so people cant just buy themselves stuff and claim someone else bought it all. But if you really got no puppy, and you put the initial charge on a credit card, there is a big possibility you can get the charge removed. You won't have that opportunity with debit card/bank account/money orders ever unless you file charges and take them to small claims court which may be more trouble than it's worth.