Got Ripped Off on Craigslist for a Computer

My question involves criminal law for the state of: Texas


So I bought a laptop on craigslist 3 days ago, it was advertised as an Intel i7 and the guy showed me the specs when I met up with him and I even checked myself, then when I get home and restarted the computer a few times, it changes to an AMD A-8 processor. I paid $250 for this so called intel i7 and now apparently I bought a AMD A-8 for the same price, I contacted the guy, he told me that "you got to look at the specs before you bought it" and I told him he scammed me and made it show fake specs but then he said " I dont know what you did with the laptop after it left my possesion" which I guess is true and refuses to give me the money back, I got his name and phone # but the police sounded apathetic over the phone.

Is there anything else that can be done or will the police pretty much not care at all? I mean $250 is not that much, and all the other specs of the PC were correct and it was an i7 when I saw it then got home and saw the processor changed.

Will anything happen? I feel the police were super apathetic and did not care and the girl on the phone even said it was basically my fault for not checking the laptop more throughougly. Am I screwed? The guy I bought it from is saying I took it home, switched out the high end processor and exchanged it with a lower end one and now want my money back..

What will honestly happen, do I have any luck? be honest.

Quote:

---

Quoting Agodeveryman321

---

My question involves criminal law for the state of: Texas


So I bought a laptop on craigslist 3 days ago, it was advertised as an Intel i7 and the guy showed me the specs when I met up with him and I even checked myself, then when I get home and restarted the computer a few times, it changes to an AMD A-8 processor. I paid $250 for this so called intel i7 and now apparently I bought a AMD A-8 for the same price, I contacted the guy, he told me that "you got to look at the specs before you bought it" and I told him he scammed me and made it show fake specs but then he said " I dont know what you did with the laptop after it left my possesion" which I guess is true and refuses to give me the money back, I got his name and phone # but the police sounded apathetic over the phone.

Is there anything else that can be done or will the police pretty much not care at all? I mean $250 is not that much, and all the other specs of the PC were correct and it was an i7 when I saw it then got home and saw the processor changed.

Will anything happen? I feel the police were super apathetic and did not care and the girl on the phone even said it was basically my fault for not checking the laptop more throughougly. Am I screwed? The guy I bought it from is saying I took it home, switched out the high end processor and exchanged it with a lower end one and now want my money back..

What will honestly happen, do I have any luck? be honest.

---

Sorry hon, this is an expensive lesson for you. Don't buy anything off of Craigslist you can't fully verify yourself first. I know, I know, it sounds like a pain in the backside to have to double-check everything but if it's worth your hand-earned cash, it's worth checking it out first. Y'know?

For sure:( thanks for replying. Do you think the cops will do anything? All the rest of the computer is in the condition he said but he said it was a higher end processor and its not. They said for $250 is such a small amount and that I had the time to look at the laptop, it was basically my fault. Is that true that they wont do anything? Was a crime commited?

You should do better research in the future. Walmart sells off-lease laptops and they have refurbished Lenovo thinkpads and Dells with the i7 processor and other decent features for under 250 dollars.

The police are not likely going to do much about your complaint.

You could try small claims court, but as you and others have indicated, you looked at it and failed to notice the discrepancy before you bought it, so there's a good chance you won't prevail.

So i am pretty much screwed? even if i find his real name?

Quote:

---

Quoting Agodeveryman321

---

So i am pretty much screwed? even if i find his real name?

---

Here's the thing. If you can find him, and you sue him, and you get a judgment ... you can't garnish his wages (not in Texas, anyway), and the court won't help you collect. Unfortunately most small claims judgments go uncollected.

Move on a wiser, if less wealthy for now, person.

:)

I thought you said you had his real name.

Like I said, you could pony up the fees for small claims court, and try your luck there. Hope you still have a copy of the Craigslist ad and any texts or emails.

Chances aren't all that good.

Quote:

---

Quoting Dogmatique

---

Here's the thing. If you can find him, and you sue him, and you get a judgment ... you can't garnish his wages (not in Texas, anyway), and the court won't help you collect. Unfortunately most small claims judgments go uncollected.

Move on a wiser, if less wealthy for now, person.

:)

---

If I had a nickel for every scam on Craigslist, I'd be able to retire to Tahiti. And BUY Tahiti outright.

It's a lot of fun to peruse but I never buy, sell or do any business on it :cool:

Quote:

---

Quoting geek

---

I thought you said you had his real name.

Like I said, you could pony up the fees for small claims court, and try your luck there. Hope you still have a copy of the Craigslist ad and any texts or emails.

Chances aren't all that good.



If I had a nickel for every scam on Craigslist, I'd be able to retire to Tahiti. And BUY Tahiti outright.

It's a lot of fun to peruse but I never buy, sell or do any business on it :cool:

---

I make it a personal rule to never set virtual foot on Craigslist. It's one rule I've been pretty successful at enforcing and maintaining (perhaps surprisingly). ;)

Also, I have a nice bridge for that island you just bought ... ;)

Given what you say, you might get something from a lawsuit based on fraud. But it won't be the whole $250 you spent. What is the difference in value between what you bought and the same used computer with an Intel I-7. I'm going to guess it’s not much, but that difference is what you are looking at should you sue.

What if I dont know his real name i was given like 3 different names by him? would they fingerprint the laptop? I do not have the original craigslist ad as it was taken down. would they go far enough to try to find his name in the actual computer? he said he wiped everything clean on the hard drive for me

No. The police are NOT going to do a full court press because you got screwed. A forensic analysis of the computer's contents and any modification to the info windows will be expensive as will a forensic examination of the surface (i.e. fingerprints). Your $250 loss would cost them 20 times that, easy.

This sounds like a misdemeanor offense. Though, in TX, it MIGHT be a felony if they can show that the seller intentionally committed fraud. but, proving that would be difficult and not at all a certainty at trial.

So, you can ASK the police if they will investigate. If they will not, you can sue ... but, you have been told how that might turn out. Understand that you cannot force the police to investigate.

In the future, stay away from Craigslist.

I mean the craigslist ad is down, I have no way of knowing his real name or real info or finding anything out, he dissapeared like a ghost:(

Quote:

---

Quoting Agodeveryman321

---

I mean the craigslist ad is down, I have no way of knowing his real name or real info or finding anything out, he dissapeared like a ghost:(

---

Well, if you didn't have bad luck, you'd have no luck at all.

Chalk it up as an expensive lesson.

Quote:

---

Quoting Agodeveryman321

---

I mean the craigslist ad is down, I have no way of knowing his real name or real info or finding anything out, he dissapeared like a ghost:(

---

Then it's pretty much over and done with.

Next time, as I and others have suggested, avoid Craigslist. I recommend Best Buy, myself. But, Walmart and Costco both have inexpensive laptops and computers available at low prices as well. With Craigslist - and even eBay - you take your chances. I can't begin to tell you the number of complaints I received over the years from ripped off consumers, first from eBay and then Craigslist as eBay cleaned up its act.

Lesson learned.

With Craigslist, and even eBay and other such sites, there's good chance of inadvertently buying a stolen item, too.

Imagine paying that money and finding out the item is stolen and you have to then surrender it.

Quote:

---

Quoting Agodeveryman321

---

I mean the craigslist ad is down, I have no way of knowing his real name or real info or finding anything out, he dissapeared like a ghost:(

---

That’s pretty much the end of the line for you on this. You can’t sue him if you don’t know who he is, and the police aren’t going to launch a big investigation to find him over what is a pretty minor thing: a dispute over the computer processor. You paid $250 for it and apparently did get a good working computer after all. As rip offs go, if that's what this was, it’s not a big one. And not worth spending much time or money to try to go after the guy for.