Help: Mom got money scammed

[archibaldcrane]

My dad was selling a $3500 camera lens on craigslist in Wisconsin just last week, got multiple nigerian scammers and got all excited about them sending him a money order. Thank god he called me before he went through with it - eventually he found a local dude who paid cash for it.

[Toxictaru]

I'm a Western Union agent. That money is basically gone. Even with a fraud report, they're not going to do much about it. It is a large sum to your mother, obviously, but the amount of manpower involved in trying to find the people who did it isn't worth the time or money spent. You can file a report, but unless it was someone local who cashed it, the authorities tend to give no fucks. It sucks, but the reality of the matter is, don't give money to someone you don't know.