is there any law applicable on this?

[aliasghar1001]

Hello there,
One of my friend has been scammed over the internet because of his own mistake but I just wanted to know that if there is any law against this case or no.
Well, the problem is that my friend met a girl on internet somewhere on instant messengers, they were good friends and then they were committed with each other and they promised to marry each other.
My friend lives in USA and the girl was from India. One fine day the girl requested my friend that she requires some money for her expenditures.
My friend sent him 200$ through Western Union, although the amount is not huge, since that day, the girl has never responded. I know my friend is such a dumb but just wanted to know that if there is any law or no, I know police or any one cannot help me as his OWN WILL was included to send money and no one took the money from him illegally, I just wanted to know what can be done as my friend feel ashamed going infront of the police and explain them about this whole story since they are gonna insult him up. Please your comments/replies are really appreciated. Let me know can that girl be trapped or no? We have the proof in the form of slip/receipt we got from westerunion which includes her ID, Address, Contact but thats kind of useless as my friend actually sent her the money! Thanks!

Is there any law applicable on this case?

[Nyla]

Let me know can that girl be trapped or no?

In short, the answer is no.

We have the proof in the form of slip/receipt we got from westerunion which includes her ID, Address, Contact but thats kind of useless as my friend actually sent her the money! Thanks!

Is there any law applicable on this case?

Frankly, that ID, address and contact information is probably worthless. Western Union doesn't verify the ID or receiver address in any way, and the ID can quite easily be fake. Scammers don't usually use their real details.

And unless your friend actually has proof that the girl promised something tangible in return for the $200 and it was not just a gift given of his own free will, you don't have so much as a leg to stand on. Breaking an engagement or stopping a relationship is not a crime nor a legal contract. The girl could quite easily (and it seems, rightly) claim that it was a gift given of his own free will to do with as she pleased. Unless she specifically said she was sending him, say,a piece of merchandise in exchange for the $200, there was no obligation on her end.

Technically, it might be taking under false pretenses/theft by deception if she lied about in order to get the money, but legally, the police aren't going to treat it any differently than if you had given your girlfriend a necklace for your anniversary, you broke up, and now you've decided you want the necklace back. It would be your word against hers, and really, the law would be on her side. It was given to her as a gift, it's hers, even if she was dishonest about her feelings.

[FW Admin]

aliasghar1001: may I suggest you ask your friend (and perhaps yourself if you are so inclined) to pay a visit to our associate website, Internet Love Scams (http://www.internet-love-scams.org) where they have excellent grounding and expertise in dealing with victims of romance scams; a particularly disturbing and heart-rendering means of scamming?