[tirwin]

Sorry to hear this! Best of luck to you and I hope you find the scumbag and get your money back.

Several years ago my wife and I were victims of identify theft and credit card fraud. My advice is you have to be your own advocate. Keep calling the police. Go to the FBI as someone suggested. Go to your local postal inspector if anything was exchanged via mail. The police are busy and sometimes things like this can be pushed to the backburner and time is not on your side.

Also contact TV stations in your area and in the area where the car was for sale and see if there any investigative reporters who are willing to help. Last year we had a similar thing going on here in Atlanta with motorcycles. A victim got smart and worked with the local TV station and a PD to set up a sting and they caught the bastards.

This is the type of thing that someone has probably done before and will do again.

A domain name has to be registered with one of a few domain registrars. This one was "1and1". They may be outside the U.S. but if the authorities can subpoena them to find out how the domain was paid for, then you might get a lead.

Subpoena Google for the Gmail account. If they can provide a list of times and source IP addresses that accessed the account then you might find the ISP of the scammer. Then subpoena them to find out which customer it was and get another lead. Most people aren't smart enough to erase their digital footprints. The problem is most investigators don't have the time or resources to fully investigate every case.