Ok. Buckle your seatbelts.

If the police are serious about pursuing it, they might be able to do something with the wire transfers. Those have to be picked up or deposited somewhere, right? There's got to be a way to track those. If it's across state lines it's also a federal crime. Sounds like there's enough correspondence that a point of contact can be found somewhere.
All depends on whether it's big enough fish for the Feds to look at, or worth the locals' time to chase it down rather than setting up another speed trap. Or even if these people are actually in Ohio. Could be a new variant on the Nigerian scams for all we know.

 

I know pets make lots of us do irrational things, but come on, man.

Anytime somebody starts asking for more money than originally agreed upon you got to call off the deal.

 

Don't disagree. But sounds like the wife played a big role. Didn't want to let her down. That sucks.

 

Yeah, I get that too. I come from a different perspective because my wife always assumes I'm getting screwed in any deal I make and that's what I hear about.

 

That must be fun.

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for making the report. It's just that I'm pretty cynical regarding how much time and effort will be spent on it afterward. If there is something easy they can look at, say the wire transfer, then maybe they get lucky. Since I don't know what that is or what might result, I'd say make the report for sure. It won't cost you anything but a little time.

 

Agreed. You don't know if you don't make the effort, and maybe this is a common scam that the cops are looking to investigate. At the very least, maybe it keeps someone else from going through the same thing. Just gotta hope you catch a break, which includes a cop willing to open a case for a $1,500 fraud.

 

I don't worry about getting the case opened. I worry about making a half assed effort, then closing it because it would be too much work to do much with it. These scumbags get away with it because they don't leave much of a paper trail and because if the trail on something like this goes out of state, the cops tend to say screw it.

 

Sorry Chef.

As the owner of two dogs, I will say they bring so much joy (oh and some aggravation as well) that they will fill your heart 100x over what aggravations may come to pass. I love our dogs (one a rescue, one we got as a pup.) Such unconditional love. Whatever you and the missus end up with I have no doubt they will be the best things you ever did.

 

I have to agree. In any kind of deal, you need to stop right there.

Allow me to echo Moddy's advice. He nailed it. That is how I would get a dog.

Whether you go for a purebred or a rescue, you meet the dog before you agree to anything or spend any money. The same for cats. Mrs. OOP and I got both of ours (both since passed) from shelters.

My parents always wanted to go the purebred route. I have some very fond memories of picking out dogs we had when I was kid. One time we went to a breeder who had a new litter of puppies and one six-month old. The little ones were great, but when I sat on the ground, the older one crawled right in my lap. You can imagine how that went, and 14 years later, the first time my wife saw me cry was when that dog died.

 

Yup. You always know the right one. Best dog I have ever had was part if the litter from my aunt's dog. Picked her from about 6 others. Gave me 18(!) great years.

 

Also, think of the proliferation of cameras these days. Maybe Western Union caught whoever got the wired money on video?