Question posted in the Criminal Law category relating to Gauteng
Your initial Question:
Hi. I recently got scammed last week ( bought a phone online and it was never delivered and the scammer did not reply to my calls and messages). In these past two days I went to the address they gave me which turned out to be false, then I hired a certified Private Investigator to get the details of the scammer from the bank account I used to transfer the money to. I got the information 2 hours ago, like Full name, ID number, last know address and more. I am going to the police in the morning, however I just need some legal advice on this matter, if I should hire a lawyer to as I am also looking if I can claim for the extra things I had to do just to locate this person?
Message from the Attorney
Hi there,
I see that you haven't made a payment for the question, but I'm going to assist you a little. If you want to ask a follow-up question, please make the required payment, even if it is R150 or R200.
There is not a lot of extra things that you can sue the scammer for. Your claim is really limited to your actual damages.
My suggestion is that you get the SAPS involved first, and then put pressure on the scammer to give you your money back.
You should also watch out in case the scammer is using a third party's bank account to receive payments. There is a chance that the owner of the bank account is not actually the scammer, but rather letting the scammer use his/her bank account as part of the scam.
Att. Patrick
Please remember this is a dialog if you have follow-up questions please make the required deposit, then use the REPLY button and ask your further question. I would like to continue assisting you, but I need to concentrate on people who make deposits for their questions - they get serviced first!