Legal Question in Consumer Law in Washington

This is a long story but I am going to shorten it as best as I can. So please read and bare with me

I was scammed in late 2010 over the internet involving a fake job post. I was at a difficult time and was trying to get as many jobs as possible. I lost money that I never even had to begin with. So basically I am out thousands of dollars. The scam involved my bank as well and in the end I owe them the money back. Instead of my bank working with me, they sent my account off to a collections agency within 3 weeks, which is understandable because its a lot of money and for all they know I truly could have been scamming them.

I pay a lot of bills and only work part time, but I still make payments to that agency...very small payments.

Since 2010 I have spoken to TONS of lawyers and gotten free consolations and they all keep saying that they either don't deal with my case or that I have to speak to my cities prosecutors office. I have done that and all they did was send a letter to that bank and explain my concerns then shove me to the side. Note that I have all records of contact between me and my scammer to the T and nobody seems to be taking that into consideration.

I am so scared and have exhausted myself and feel like there is no hope. . The collection agency continues to call every single week, they keep threatening that they are going to garnish my wages and take me to court. I have no hatred towards the agency as well because that is their job and they aren't the ones responsible for what happened, I am. However, I am only 20, 18 at the time of this scam and DEFINITELY don't have the money to pay in full. I have tried loans but I don't use credit cards or anything so I have no credit.

My question is, since I lost thousands of dollars that I never really had, technically speaking I am in debt. Should I be speaking to a debt lawyer instead of a consumers fraud lawyer so that I can at least get some of that erased. I feel like after almost 2 years of this, going the route of being scammed isn't paying off. Would going the route of seeking a debt consolidator be the next best thing?

Thank you for your help!


Asked on 2/23/12, 11:56 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Jonathan Baner Baner & Baner

Here is a few possibly helpful answers in bullet form:

1. Lawyers run businesses and if they cannot see a way of realistically making money on a case then they do not do that case or they become unemployed.

2. Prosecuting internet crime is like nailing jello to a wall - you have to find them, and then even when you think you found them there is a possibility it wasn't actually them, and even if you're pretty sure it is them they might be outside of your jurisdiction, or in a jurisdiction that isn't very interested in assisting. Note that this logic applies to the plaintiff's bar (attorneys that would be suing this wrongdoer) as well. Everyone has limited resources, and if it seems hopeless and there was only several thousand scammed then no one is going to want to throw too many resources into finding the problem.

3. Talk to a bankruptcy lawyer. It sounds like it might be best to get past the idea of "finding justice" or whatever principal based argument might make sense to you. Solve your problem that wasn't your fault and move on. Debt consolidation might be an option if the amount is fairly low compared to your income.

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Answered on 2/26/12, 8:02 am


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