I'm pretty sure I got scammed on Craigslist, help?

Question

Alright first things first. My goal was to buy a MacBook pro or at least something with more memory than the 64gb in my MacBook air. So I sold it to my friend for 400.
I sold it that cheap because I found a used MacBook pro from 2009 listed as 625$ which I thought was pretty solid even after my knowledge and MacBook researching. Well here's the link to the ad I found which was posted locally under Rochester, NY (where I'm from)
http://rochester.craigslist.org/sys/3075142090.html

So after emailing the lady and get all my questions settled, she told me she "accidentally" posted in the wrong section and was from Vermont. Still interested I asked if her and her husband could set up the shipping for me and that I would still make the payment somehow. So after a day of texting and calling me, she tells me it's ready to ship and all I had to do was make the payment then she'd send it out which sounded pretty legit. So she tells me to go to a Cvs or something of that nature to buy a GreenDot MoneyPak card. 
This $4.95 card lets you put money on it after you purchase it in the store still and when you go home with your own money on it you can scratch a number on the back that you'd give to whoever. So the final agreed price was $525 (which sketched me out a little but I still went for it) and I put 200 on one card and 325 on the other. 
She then texts me her "Visa bank teller number" and her account number and whatnot. So I call the "visa" and an almost recorded voice comes on but it's a real teller so I immediately thought it was real. I gave him the girl's info and account number then my GreenDot card numbers. After that he tells me I'm all set and gave me some type of password that idk what to do with.
Anyways this was all Monday it's now Friday, I still have yet to receive a single email from ANYONE involved in this purchase. Also no texts or calls back from the girl still.. Her phone goes to voicemail immediately.. The "bank" I try calling back says "we're sorry, due to weather conditions this line is currently down" or something like that. (which makes no sense because everywhere in the u.s. is like 60 or higher..) 
I also didn't get a tracking number and coming from Vermont to Rochester, NY should take easily less than a day.

So I'm almost positive I got scammed and no one is replying back to me.. The only thing I feel like I can do is call GreenDot; I still have my receipts from CVS. But I think this ***** used a fake name, ("Amber Milton") fake email, fake number, and probably wasn't from Vermont. I'm just super worried because I had to sell my laptop and used 125 of my own cash which came from my recent graduation money.. Any advice at all? 
Please please please don't tell me I can't do anything at all.... I'm not stopping after selling my own MacBook air and using 125 of my own cash. Thanks.

? · Accepted Answer

Sorry, there is nothing you can do. Your money is gone forever, you sent it to someone someplace. You can call GreenDot but they don't have a refund policy, money sent is money gone forever.

Since that scammer intended to steal your money, he did not giving you his real life information. All you have is one of his fake names, one of his free email addresses, one of his fake stories and one of his paid-for-in-cash cell phone numbers. None of that information is going to help your local law enforcement agency track down that anonymous scammer sitting in a cyber cafe half way around the world from you.

Sorry to read that you lost money to a scammer running a scam but happy that you found this site to post your story.

Making a scammer's scam googlable on every scam-warner-anti-fraud-busting site you can find is a great way to slow that scammer down when a suspicious potential victim goes looking for information, finds your post containing the name the scammer is using, his email address, phone number and the emails themselves and then that potential victim does not become a scam victim because you took the time "get the word out".

Wasting a scammer's time legally and safely is called "scambaiting". If you google that word, you will find sites where you can read scambaits, post up the emails and email addresses of scammers, post up a fake website, read up on how to alert a hosting company that they are hosting a fake website, ask questions and learn all about the hobby of scambaiting.

Stanley · Answer

1

Gardner · Answer

From the home page of GreenDot, big as day, first thing you see:

How to Stop A Scam:

Use your MoneyPak number only with businesses on our approved list. If anyone else asks for your MoneyPak number or information from your receipt, it’s probably a scam. Don’t give your MoneyPak number to pay for something you buy through the classifieds or to collect a prize or sweepstakes. Do not give away your receipt information to another party either. If you give your MoneyPak number or information about the purchase transaction to a criminal, Green Dot is not responsible to pay you back. Your MoneyPak is not a bank account. The funds are not insured against loss.

You got scammed.  Call the police and give them all the info you can.  Your money is gone though.

Anonymous · Answer

Rochester Craigslist Cars

Anonymous · Answer

NEVER accept paypal for a car - accept cash only. What will happen is this - they pay you with a hacked paypal account then pick up the car. A few days later the real account holder reports their account has been hacked and Paypal refunds their money out of your account. You can't get your car back because the buyer gave you a fake name and has already closed the free email account and ditched the pay as you go phone. Your car has already been sold for parts to a chop shop Also never sell to anyone you cannot meet in person - don't trust anyone else to pick it up. That's just the scammer himself who will give you another fake name

Kittysue · Answer

Unfortunately you got scammed. It's time to file a police report. Bring copies of all email correspondence between you and the scammer but you will only get your money back if the police and find and arrest this person

Craiglist is ONLY supposed to be for face to face CASH transactions or you will always get screwed

Geo1616 · Answer

Famous Craigslist scam bud:/ I'm extremely sorry to say this but they got you. Craigslist is meant to meet people I your area... Try calling the police, you never know but most likely it's gone. I got scammed before on Craigslist before. Tout I was getting a steal price on a 14000 $ car..  Did t turn out too good. 
Always be very vigilant and careful when you buy on Craigslist. And Never buy from anyone who's shipping.

stines · Answer

Rochester Craigs

Anonymous · Answer

You may get many suppliers at eSources directory , Ebay.com or Quibids.com. Simply look for  cheap prices.

Anonymous · Answer

You can find many suppliers at eSources directory , Ebay.com or Quibids.com. Just look for  low-cost prices.

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I'm pretty sure I got scammed on Craigslist, help?

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