Sorry OP. Ten years ago I got scammed for $50k+ (Financial invetment, not pins). You just got a $2,700 PhD in not ever getting scammed again. I chose the costlier school. 
Anyway, I really wish financial scammers were treated like the vermin that they are. They really cause a lot of damage. If I were king, I'd pass a law for an annual purge of these people via drowning. I would do it in style too. In true scammer fashion, I'd tell them they won a free Alaskan cruise, load them on the boat, and then sink it somewhere in the arctic ocean once a year.
Yeah...I guess you could say I'm still a little bitter. This thread got my blood boiling again. Ugh.
West Chicago, IL
