Too good to be true is the only thing true about this one...
I found an e-bay auction for some electronics. Being the first time I use any auction site, and the first time buying anything from abroad, I took the bait, hook, sinker, line, fishing rod...
I got in contact with the seller (Manuel MG
mang.071@hotmail.com) and agreed on using his cargo and escrow site (
http://www.cargus-speditions.com), however being currently residing in Turkey and not wanting to have to go to another city just to pick up the items I had them delivered to (and paid for by) a friend in the U.S., as the items were supposedly shipped from Italy.
Unfortunately, the cargo didn't deliver because my friend hadn't authorized her bank to make the payments from her credit card. So she authorized the payment (damn Moneygram) and now that the funds are transferred, we were waiting for the items to ship. I knew something was fishy when the seller and the cargo company halted all communication, and thats when I found out about all this scamming. The cargus site was added to another website's fraud database 3 days ago, but I found it today.
It has nearly been 24 hours since the funds have been transferred, but the cargus site is still up, which gives me hope that the funds have not been withdrawn yet. I have notified my friend in the U.S. who made the payment for me, and she will call her bank tomorrow morning to see if the money has transferred from her cards and stop it if it hasn't (not likely). She is visiting me on the 16th, therefore I don't know if she will have the time to go through all the hoops to take legal action on time.
Is there anything we can do yet?