NEED QUICK ADVICE. Taken in by scammer on a forum

[peegee75]

I'm looking for help here on correct way to go about this. I tried to buy something today on an internet forum. I sent am amount via PayPal goods. I was told I would receive a tracking number within half an hour. Didn't obviously so I started googling the guys email address, PayPal addresses (I have 2 for him) and found a lot of info showing this guy is a serial scam artist. He is still actively trying to scam more ppl on these forums, and obviously has been doing so for a couple of years. The email address I made the payment to gas now been shut down. I only paid him 6 hours ago. I want to report him to PayPal as a scammer, how do I do this? If I was to open a dispute do I not need to wait a reasonable amount of time for postage first? And if I go to this it says compose a message to seller. This will obviously be no use as the email address has been shut since I paid. Can his account be froze or something, given that he is still trying to scam more people? What is correct way to do this?

[kernowlass]

As long as you used the goods option and were paying for physical goods to be sent in the post then you should be covered by buyer protection.

You have up to 45 days to file a dispute for non receipt of item via the resolution tab in your paypal account > if the seller does not send the item then escalate the dispute to a claim.

Then you need to wait for paypal, if they can get funds from the seller they will, if not if you met all the criteria of buyer protection then paypal will refund you under buyer protection. 

[snowshoe]

If your purchase was for an intangible item, i.e., digital goods, services, etc., then PayPal won't be of much help.  You will find that all explained in the User Agreement.

If your purchase was for an item that is tangible, meaning it can be shipped, tracked and insured if applicable, then your chances of getting your money back are better, you can open a dispute requesting a refund.  You have 45 days to open a dispute from the date of purchase.  Make sure you escalate the dispute to a claim within 20 days of the dispute date, else PayPal will simply close the dispute.  Once a dispute is closed, you cannot reopen it.

Also note, if you paid using a credit card, should PayPal not decide in your favor or provide additional assistance, you should contact your credit card issuer for assistance.  Sometimes the card issuer can do a chargeback on your behalf.