[Danny071]

I fell for one of those online scams, long story short paid for plasma TV with western union, never got it. When I realized the money was already picked up in a different province. I called WU and of course I can't get the money back, local PD wasn't of much help since this seems to be common scam and a lot of people lose money, but location where it was picked up has cameras, I'm worried since it's taking so long for the PD to actually contact me if the surveillance may be gone by then (I'm hoping that may help but I know it may be long stretch), do those cheque cashing places usually keep surveillance or it's deleted after a while? Any way for me personally to request to get it/save it?

[smoothy]

The Police... definitely... a Private detective, maybe... you personally... I bet they tell you to take a hike. But it costs you nothing to ask... IF they oblige you, expect to be charged for it. BUT I'm not sure a court would even take something that's passed through a third parties hands... because the risks of it being altered or edited by the third party and the fact it won't be an original... but an uncertified duplicate of the original... but I also doubt they would give it to you at all... because those are usually multiple cameras and much of it is sensitive parts of the operation that could be used to formulate a robbery of their office.

[Danny071]

Not worth for me to travel there, but PD is giving me a run around I'm worried by the time they decide to do something video will be gone

[smoothy]

The PD likely has determined there is next to no evidence... its not a serious crime... and even if they do get a person on video it might not be clear enough to get a clear picture to even be able to get an accurate description. Without that the odds of getting a positive ID is slim at best... and odds are the names they used are not their own but something they acquired via identity theft.

And you said more than you thought... "It's not worth your time to travel there". From the Police Depts perspective... they likely have dozens of more serious crimes they don't have the time or manpower to deal with, that have far more evidence. And that could explain their behavior.

Consider this an expensive lesson... either buy local, or use a more secure method of payment. Many ways are no more secure than sending cash in an envelope.

[Danny071]

Name was fake I learned that, so only evidence is video and probably fingerprints, but this is for $350 and by reading online it seems while collar crime in Canada is taken lightly as it is for much more money, seems it'll be a lesson for me..

[smoothy]

I agree... they likely don't have the time to deal with things that minor... because they are pursuing more serious crimes that take all their time.

File the police report... because who knows.. if they do ever get caught... they will know you were ripped off... miracles happen.

In the USA there is a dept of the FBI that deals with these sorts of fraud... I don't know if Canada has a similar unit.

[Alty]

Name was fake I learned that, so only evidence is video and probably fingerprints, but this is for $350 and by reading online it seems while collar crime in Canada is taken lightly as it is for much more money, seems it'll be a lesson for me..

Danny, I'm not a legal expert, but I have to share this story with you.

Around 17 years ago my home was robbed. They stole over $10,000 worth of stuff. The neighbor was home, saw them, wrote down the license plate of their car, and got a very good description of them.

The police were called, they came, they talked to our neighbor, they dusted for prints, they entered the license plate into their system. They instantly knew who these guys were. They had robbed many other people.

Sadly, because they weren't caught in the act, they weren't charged. The police knew where they were, their names, everything, and I never got even one item back, nor were they charged. The police didn't even go to their home, and they knew where they lived, to search for my things. Some of those things were heirlooms that can never be replaced.

In other words, it's highly unlikely that they'll spend a lot of time trying to find the person that scammed you when it's only $350 and they have no idea who they are. If they went after every single scam case, they'd need thousands of police officers just to handle a small percentage of the scams that are committed each day.

So yes, this will likely be a case of "lesson learned" on your part. I wouldn't hold your breath that the police will go out of their way to solve this. Sad but true.

The only one that can protect you from things like this is you. Next time you won't fall for it.

Good luck.

[Danny071]

Wow that's ridiculous, even with license plate/ID.. sorry for your loss. Now my loss seems so small.

Yes we have similar program as that of FBI but, again, I imagine they get 1000's of complaints weekly so it's probably more for show..

As for report, reminds me of Seinfeld episode, unless they give a copy to the criminal they'll never get them

[Fr_Chuck]

The police will take a report, and give you a case number, then they will talk to someone else on the phone and give them a case number. After that the small amount of investigators will go look into crimes where someone was injured and there is better evidence.

Your money is gone, they will never get it back, and no one is really looking hard for the crooks.

Sorry facts of life, ( many years as a police officer)

[Alty]

No loss is small Danny, and it's really not fair that people are allowed to get away with things like this. It's not your fault, and I wish that there was something you could do, or something that the police could do, but you're right, they likely get 1000's or more complaints weekly from scams like this, and other scams. They simply can't give their attention to every complaint.

In one way I was lucky. My home insurance covered the loss, but it didn't replace the heirloom items that were stolen. I had 5 gold bracelets given to me by an Aunt and Uncle. The Aunt died 5 short months before we were robbed. The bracelets had been given to me all throughout my life, one when I was born (engraved), one when I turned 16 (also engraved), one when I graduated high school, one when I graduated college, and one when I got married. A lifetime of memories, and they were stolen. I'm still bitter about that, because no amount of insurance money could ever replace those bracelets or the memories behind them.

But I've learned a lot since then, and this incident will teach you too. Never buy anything online, and if you absolutely have to, POD (Pay on delivery).

[Danny071]

I figured as much, just wanted to ask.. while I know it's bad the way things are I'd rather have police work on catching murderers, robbers and drug dealers than these people.. white collar seems so hard to get any real attention, until someone steals billions..

[smoothy]

Eventually they might commit enough crimes to drawn the attention of the authorities... or they will sucker someone that's well connected... as long as you have a police report.. they know about it... as long as everyone that gets ripped off does that.. eventually karma will catch up to them even if its not the Mounties. If nobody goes to the police... then they will never get caught, because the authorities won't be aware of what they were doing or to how many.

[AK lawyer]

... location where it was picked up has cameras, I'm worried since it's taking so long for the PD to actually contact me if the surveillance may be gone by then (I'm hoping that may help but I know it may be long stretch), do those cheque cashing places usually keep surveillance or it's deleted after a while? Any way for me personally to request to get it/save it?

Tell them that you would like them to be sure to not delete it while you do what needs to be done. Then contact an attorney about getting a subpoena for the video.

There is a way to get the evidence; the expense and trouble may just not be worth it. You decide.

Danny, I'm not a legal expert, but I have to share this story with you.

Around 17 years ago my home was robbed. ... The police ... instantly knew who these guys were. They had robbed many other people.

Sadly, because they weren't caught in the act, they weren't charged. The police knew where they were, their names, everything, and I never got even one item back, nor were they charged. ...

So why didn't you sue the bastards (the burglars, that is. :) )?

[JudyKayTee]

AK's legal advice is correct. An Attorney can "freeze" that tape.

What Police Agency are you dealing with? RCMP?

I'm not in Canada. I'm in the US BUT if the deal was too good to be true the Police aren't going to be terribly interested. They are going to have a concern that the deal WAS too good to be true - and you should have known.

And, yes, my house was burglarized some years ago. The Police had little interest until my Homeowners Insurance got involved. I realize that is not your sitution and this is not a chat site... but it happens.

[Danny071]

Local PD, I had even worse luck with RCMP (told to file complaint with phone busters, same as your FBI internet crime website)