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GETTING YOUR MONEY BACK
When
you lose money through an Internet scam, the chances of getting
your money back are akin to getting your television back after
an unknown burglar steals it from your home while you are away
on vacation. It happens only in the rarest of
circumstances. However, you do have some options.
First, you can pursue
criminal charges through the proper agency, and if this happens
and the thief is convicted, you can ask for restitution as part
of the sentencing. Depending on the state and county, the
thief may remain on probation until the money is repaid.
Second, you can sue the person in
court in order to obtain a civil judgment. This judgment
will allow you to have the thief's personal property seized, his
bank account levied and his paycheck garnisheed. This is a
very good option if the thief is employed and has assets.
Unfortunately, the majority of the people who scam do not have
stable employment or assets.
However, it you obtain a judgment
against someone, you can hand it over to a judgment recovery
specialist, which is a collector who goes after judgment
debtors. This person will have a financial motivation to
find your money, and the fee you pay, which is generally 30% to
50% of the money collected, may be worth it. 50% of
something is better than 100% of nothing. AND you will
have obtained justice because the thief will have had to give
back the stolen money.
An additional disadvantage of suing
civilly is that a judgment is only valid in the county and/or
state where it was issued. In order for it to be
recognized in another county and/or state, it must be filed as a
foreign judgment. Often this means the case must be heard
by a judge in the county where it is being filed as a foreign
judgment. If it was a default judgment, the chances are
even better that the count will not rubber stamp it without
hearing the case.
To see an overview of what is available
to a plaintiff in a small claims court suit, go to CUFF's Get
Even Legally Page.
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IDENTIFYING
THE THIEF
If you need assistance in identifying and locating the person who
defrauded you on the Internet, CUFF will provide the research for
$59.00. This research will
benefit your case and possibly be used to match the person with other
complaints. Order
a Background Search. The
information we have uncovered on other con artists has been used by the
victims to convince law enforcement to investigate the charges.
If
our research uncovers an outstanding warrant for the person, we
will publish the information for free in the CUFF
Fugitive Database so
others can help with the search. If
you already know that the person has an outstanding
warrant or criminal history, you
can Submit
the person to the CUFF Fugitive Database
for free. This database is not
searchable on the Internet until CUFF verifies the warrant and
your personal information will not be given to anyone unless you
authorize it. When it is published, anyone can search the
database for free using 48 different search criteria, including
the subject's physical description, aliases, background
information and keywords.
If our research uncovers
a criminal history or recorded civil judgments, we will publish this
information in the CUFF
Fugitive Database also.
You
can also submit the person to the
Internet
Swindlers Database,
which is a
proprietary database that is not searchable on the Internet but
is used by CUFF to match names and MO's of swindlers in order to
provide information to law enforcement. CUFF matches each submission with con artists
already in the database to see if the person has been entered
already. If so, we will send you the e-mail address of the other victim(s)
and allow you to discuss your frauds, if you choose. If
information is produced which substantiates a pattern of fraud, CUFF
will provide a free background search on the con artist and begin an
investigation to determine whether or not there might be evidence to
convince law enforcement to charge the person with fraud.
If you
don't believe the criminal justice system is equipped to handle
the growing epidemic of fraud, join
CUFF,
America's fastest growing grassroots anti-fraud movement that is
working to change the laws and social attitude which have
contributed to the laxity in prosecution. |
