I was scammed by Indian pharmaceutical company... need help

[Sad-one]

Back in July I was contacted by an Indian pharmaceutical company from whom I had previously ordered medications.   The previous orders were delivered without any issue (taking about 30-40 days).  So when they called, knowing the details of my previous order, it lowered my suspicions.

Rather than just ordering several hundred USD in medications, I opted to place a rather large order for about $5,600.   We went back and forth, with a detailed itemized list (even collaborated with them via Google Sheets).  Ultimately we were happy with the invoice and opted to use Paypal to make the payments.

Due to the amount involved, there were a total of 8 payments ranging from $500 to $900.   At the time, I was not using my Paypal account (I had deleted it a year prior), and just paid the invoices as they arrived.

The seller stated that because the order was so large, they would break the shipment into multiple smaller packages, sending one, and only sending the next after the previous arrived.   They anticipated delivery to take more than 45 days.  This worked well for the first three packages (approximately $1050 in value).   The fourth package was intercepted by customs.    The seller assured me that they would resend, and not to worry.  

We received the first three packages in September.   The fourth was confiscated in October.   They then provided me with additional shipping numbers for the replacement and additional packages - but the tracking numbers either never showed in tracking system, or showed as lost/delayed.   Then the calls stopped.   And any numbers I had for them were no longer valid.   The email address I had did respond to my requests for update, but always included some excuse as to why the shipments weren't received.   I continued to give them more time, but by February, it was becoming increasingly clear that I was not going to receive any additional packages.

As I began to collect documentation in preparation for a dispute with my CC issuer, I went back to the emails received from Paypal with the "View your invoice" button - received after making payments.  To my surprise, I was greeted with this message:

Mind you, I not only received that "scam" invoice, I paid it.  At some point after that payment, Paypal removed the invoice after they discovered it likely to be fraudulent.  I don't know at what point Paypal discovered it, but no notice was sent to me, and I continued to pay additional invoices as they came in.

Now, this is clearly on me.  Under normal circumstances, my Spidey senses would have been going off, and would have walked away.  But, given that I had previously done business with the seller, I overrode any suspicions.   Further, I figured IF this was fraudulent, surely Paypal and/or my CC issuer would have my back...  Well... Here I am.

I contacted my Visa CC issuer.   I provided a dozen separate PDF documents (everything from text messages, emails, invoices, receipts).  I even had every single phone call recorded and ready to send to the bank.  However, they very quickly informed me of Visa's dispute window - and how I had missed it, by A LOT.   60 days.   They said I would have had to dispute the charges within 60 days of the transactions.  

The problem with this is that I knew going in, that the shipments likely wouldn't all be in hand within 60 days.   And to file a dispute at day 59 would have just created an adversarial relationship between me and (what I assumed) was a legitimate seller.   So, any help from the CC issuer evaporated.

So, then I focused on Paypal.  However, since I didn't complete the payments using my account, there is no history of the transactions.  I do have the emails (which contain transaction details) that I received with each payment made - but all the cloud-based evidence on Paypal's website has been scrubbed with the message I've screenshoted above.

I am a skeptic through and through.  It burns me that I walked into this so casually.  Disarmed by the previous sale, and complacent because of perceived fraud protection, I blindly forked over my money.  Now, I've lost $4550, and apparently now way to recover it.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to approach Paypal?  I've yet to reach out to them through any phone or contact forms.