[wgdaytona]

Chad, would you mind posting any updates you have to your case? I am familiar with these scams and am curious if you had any positive results from Law Enforcement (LE). There are several different ways these cases progress, all with different outcomes. I'd like to know if you got lucky. Disregard the earlier jerk posts and focus on facts. 99% you never see your money again, sorry, but that is how these things almost always go. It CAN be a domestic scammer that thinks he is "bright," but the right LE will figure out who he is and approach, but money is long gone. Maybe they will prosecute, but that depends more on the DA'S office if local and the AUSA office if federal. Federal, no way, they take a 45k case UNLESS during an investigation they find other victims and get the loss amount over 1 million with mitigating circumstances or 5 million without. Locals may work it, and if they get to actual crook (who is not that guy btw, it is a persona or stolen ID) the local DA will not have that $ thresholds. 45k is enough for the locals to prosecute. BUT the locals would have to coordinate with whatever dept is local to where the crook is, but it is done all the time. Cops track IP addresses in cases fairly regularly these days, so IF you are lucky, you have a dope working from his own house scamming from parents internet, or his own, but just doesn't think cops can track back. It is amazing to me how many people think the internet cannot be traced. BUT you will need to stay diligent and friendly with the local detective and discuss IP searches, subscriber info subpoenas, his efforts to reach out to the cops in the other jurisdiction, since the odds the crook was in your town are remote. Etc. Etc... But if they track and go to guys house with search warrant they may find evidence on his computer he is a scammer you will get a prosecution, but very very unlikely for $ recovery. Domestic crooks almost always spend it. NOW, on flipside, you get FBI, HSI, or Postal Inspectors (all work financial/wire fraud cases) to work this for you, also stay in contact and offer up your records and other pertinent data. They can put out subpoenas to email providers, IP providers, and banks, and can usually track the money or communications. If its domestic, you are lucky and have potential for what is basically stated above. If money bounces through a couple accounts and then overseas, dead end. That part of the story doesn't matter for now, just accept it is a dead end. IF the money has local connections, they will follow the trail. Forget what somebody else said about cops don't care about rich person getting scammed. That is some jaded person talking without any inside knowledge. Cops do not care who the victim is, they joined to catch crooks, it is very satisfying. Period. But, they will and can spend only so much time and effort as resources are a finite commodity whether you are talking about time, effort, money to work the case, etc.. How much time and effort will your boss let you put on something valued at 45K with 1 victim, when most feds have 20 other cases waiting in cue that are 5, 10, 50 mil in value or loss amount to 200 or 500 nationwide victims? If the ER doc has 20 gunshot victims in the ER, he will not be seeing- AT ALL- the guy coming in with flu symptoms. ***Another scenario is the whole scam is run from Nigeria or Jamaica, the two most prolific scam countries, again you have issues as LE can track it all as stated above, BUT when the $ crosses out of US which is usually only a few days after it passes through a few monty mules, -it is gone. Forget what you see on TV or read about in some super rare isolated case... it won't happen here. Also, with overseas scammer MASKING IP's and emails, it gets tougher. LE can follow the trail, but when it finally gets to overseas server... _ No jurisdiction for them to comply with a US based subpoena. End of line. FYI: This is also the most likely scenario. Yes, I know TV does different things, but the real law just doesn't work that way. And the rare case the other countries do help us, it is a case with millions or more of loss amount with mitigating circumstances or significant US based victims... and pressure from the State Dept. So forget all that for a stolen watch scam type case. I wish you the best in luck, it can be done, keep talking to your local detective, and try to get him to partner with a fed. And please post an update.