Land scam - What do I do?

[thelovebandit]

Someone claiming to be the owner of a bunch of land parcels was selling cheap land. It turns out they're not the land owner and were reselling the land and I've been scammed out of my money. What can I do about this? Is the money I paid just gone now?

Update: I see. It's just that they -must- have signed the owner's covenant which states there's to be no resales, yet resold it to me. But how is that really enforced?

[Darren Scorpio]

You can try filing an abuse report but LL may just decide that it is a resident to resident dispute and not get involved. Learn from this mistake. Always make sure the person you are buying the land from is the actual owner.

[Shockwave Yareach]

If the person resold and it's against the covenent, then the group leader can kick the goober out of the group and take up his land.

 

if the person is just a thief saying it was his land to resale and it wasn't, THAT is theft and reportable to Linden Labs. 

[Lindal Kidd]

Was this on a private estate?  Some estates allow their tenants to re-sell the land to others.  Whether this is permitted, and any conditions on it, will be stated in the Covenant for the land (World/About Land/Covenant tab).

If the estate's covenant does not permit re-sales, contact the estate owner.  He will probably be happy that the land isn't vacant, and allow you to stay...but you will undoubtedly have to pay the weekly or monthly tier on it, using whatever payment system the estate owner has set up.

If the person who "sold" you the land does not own it at all...that is, he's just a passerby who claimed the land was his, and you paid him directly...then the money is gone.  File an Abuse Report with Linden Lab, but don't expect to get any money back.

NOTE:  Most estates these days are so happy to get residents on their land that they do not charge a "sales" price.  You just pay the tier for the first month, either by using the "Buy Land" button in About Land, or the estate's tier collection box, and the land is yours.  Be very wary of people wanting to "sell" you estate land.  Always check the parcel ownership and the estate's Covenant, and it's a good idea to contact the estate owner or their manager and verify that the transaction is on the level.