So, I got scammed.. what now?

Well im sure you guys read the announcement about the guy selling me a stolen copy of another forum's DB. Right now I am trying to get my money back and the guy is not cooperating. And it sucks because I sent the payment (A good amount) as a gift so I cant even file a dispute

 

Call PayPal, and explain what happened. It was a legitimate transaction. You should be able to get your money back regardless of it being sent as a gift.

 

Alright I will, but doubt it though because they will just ask why I sent it as a gift.. so its basically my mistake for doing that, dont think PP can help much.

 

Well, you won't know until you try. From my/friends past experiences, the buyer usually wins if he/she has enough proof.

 

Alright, I will try calling them tomorrow, but I am trying to work it out with the guy first which hasnt been going well.

 

Okay, well if you need any help. Drop me a line!

Hope you get it sorted out.

 

Thanks

 

He's not going to help you.

 

Yea I know, but I like to work things out first.. I will contact paypal tomorrow if he doesnt reply back to the last PM I sent him today morning by tomorrow night.

 

That sucks to hear. I just joined here today and thus have not been here to see what went on (as you described in the announcement.) This may be a stupid question, but what did this database have? I'm slightly confused as to what exactly you are referring to. Thanks.

 

Its a database of another forum (Databases contain all the users, forums, posts of a forum)

 

So would that mean that those users would be migrated over here, or is it simply to add content to this database (threads and all)? But yeah, sorry to hear that. Those dirty people annoy me. I work hard to get a buck..

 

Yes it means everything on that database would be imported and added into AdminBB, and add up with our current members, threads, posts. But as I said we restored back to our old database because that one was stolen.

 

But don't be naïve, though. He won't help you. The only possible chance you got off this guy is to contact PayPal and such and hopefully initiate a chargeback.

Also why you don't use Gift as a payment.

 

I have no idea why I sent it as a gift I know very well whats the consequences can be, just trusted the guy, which I shouldnt ether.

 

There are so many reasons why I personally do not support or ever use PayPal.

Sorry that you will NEVER get your money back. He could admit to ripping you off, but since you sent it as a "gift".... All bets are off.

I ended up suing PayPal and won. Took a long time and a long fight. But of course I'll never go back to them (and technically as agreed, can not).

 

Wow, that sucks. This is why I don't trust buying or selling forums, even for forum currency. And you can't file a claim with your local courthouse for being scammed because the money sent was a gift? That doesn't make sense. Even if it was a gift, it was still a scam and you should be able to file a claim, because that was a stolen database. Hope all goes well in your case, though!

Also, if your family has an attorney, it might be best to ask if you can file a claim despite the fact that the payment was more of a gift. I'm not sure but you should be able to do something as far as reporting this guy.

 

If you can't work it out, try and file a dispute and if that fails, contact your local police and start to file a lawsuit against the person, etc.

 

That's how I am as well. I like to work out situations and try to come to an agreement of some kind before taking any action. If it doesn't work, then I'd take action. Keep us posted and let us know how this works out for you two!

 

Sheesh, you guys are so quick to recommend going straight to the police. If you wanted to take it to that level, you need to go to an attorney, not the police...You do realize that you could actually have committed a crime in this case? Even though you didn't know that the data was stolen, if an attorney can prove that any reasonable person might think that the data was stolen, you can be found guilty of a crime. When making a purchase like that, it's your job to do your due dilligence to make sure that you are buying from the legal owner.

I know the price of the database that you purchased. I know the forum that it came from. The price of the data was pennies compared to how much the forum is worth, and the manner that it was sold (in a sketchy thread in some forums) had red flags all over it. You don't buy a $20,000 car in a street corner for $5,000. If you do that, and the car is found to be stolen, you're guilty of a felony...even though you didn't know it was stolen - any reasonable person could assume it was stolen, and they would need to go the proper length to verify ownership.

1) File a claim with PayPal (which I'll tell you right now, you probably won't win...I've made thousands of transactions through PayPal over the years and probably over 100 disputes. You have little power in this scenario.)

2) Report this user to both the owner of the forum that the database belonged to and also the owner of the forum(s) where the database was sold

That's all you can and should do...If you lose the PayPal dispute, then you're just out the money that you sent. It's not that much money. You've invested far more into AdminBB than what you purchased this stolen database for.