And to add on my redundant comment. Simple lawyer stuff. Never buy anything across a state line with a check.
Second, never buy anything online with a Debit card, like a check your money is gone, the instant they process it, and no, debit cards are NEVER as safe as credit cards.
Third, always use a regular Mastercard or Visa for out of state or online sales. Why? Because the seller has a contract with the Visa or Mastercard provider, and that contract provides a method of getting your money back if you file a challenge, regardless of where you live or where the property was sold.
Even filing a credit card challenge at some late date can be effective because the company controls whether or not that guy is going to be able to use their card services in the future, so likely they will make it right, unless there is a time limitation of the challenge.
A $100 case or a dozen of them is pretty trivial to any DA or prosecutor. When I was an Assistant DA, I had hundreds of cases assigned. I had one investigator and about a dozen staff who processed cases. I worked 60 hours per week and never made a dent.
Many cases involved pretty dramatic harm to people, those cases get worked first. Keep in mind that over 90% of all cases, state and federal are plea bargained because in part there is simply not enough prosecutors, courts, jails or prison space.
Taxpayer refuse to fund the number of prosecutors needed and that is every state. That is why I doubt the Oklahoma AG will file anything in that case, pretty trivial really. Some kid having his bicycle stolen by fraud has much more money being lost. Just saying, nobody is going to get very excited about some guy in another state claiming he was ripped off for $100.
I suspect that most AGs would consider that a civil matter, and can better spend their resources going after other types of criminals.
