A friend of mine lives in New Zealand and she shipped some gold coins to a guy in California on Ebay.
The buyer in California did a fraudulent credit chargeback on Paypal with his credit card for
"unauthorized purchase" which caused financial damage to my friend. Is it useful at all to report
this guy to the USPS or Feds since the victim is out of the country? Mail fraud is just against
US citizens if its by a US citizen correct? Thanks for any advice.
If mail fraud was committed, it can be committed by a citizen of nation "X" living in nation "J" against a US citizen living in nation "K".
If there was a crime, the problem would be jurisdiction over the alleged perpetrator.
In your example Buyer "Q" received the goods in the US, specifically California.
The seller is a US national living in New Zealand.
The US authorities would have little interest in this matter because the person used an authorized method to charge back the purchase.
That alone would indicate that the credit card issuer doesn't see anything illicit about the matter.
In the future your pal could require the funds be wired to a bank account, placed on a PayPal card, or in the form of cashier's check.
I see no crime here, but your pal could always report the matter to the New Zealand law enforcement personnel, NZ postal inspectors, or dispute it with PayPal.
There are ways to prevent this from happening, your friend should inquire of other sellers and see how they protect themselves.
By the way, suing the buyer is out of the question unless the seller is willing to return to California and bring such an action. But, even if the seller were to prevail, a collection of the judgment would have to be done. That isn't easy, and often ends in great frustration without any money.
Buyer beware, seller, too!!!!!
