It's too late now, but using escrow would have been better, especially when dealing with someone with no rep.
Very true. Lesson learned.
Fuxl still refuses to respond to any emails I've sent to the email address he communicated to me from"his" alternate account. I asked him to present any evidence of his claim that I'm the scammer. I firmly believe that he either wittingly or unwittingly sent my funds to someone else and it is him that should absorb this loss, not I.