You bought from an online shop, on a marketplace, or from a private seller, and the item never arrives, turns out to be fake, or you were charged more than agreed. Or you entered your card details on a site that turned out to be a trap. Once it has happened, the question is whether there is anything you can do or you have simply lost the money.
Quite often there is something to be done. It helps to know where to start.
It is a scam, and it opens several routes
Being tricked into paying for something that does not exist, or that is not what you were sold, is fraud, with everything that means for you as a victim. And the route depends on how you paid:
- If you paid by card, in some cases the transaction can be treated as unauthorised or non-conforming with your bank, and there may be options to get the money back. I cover this in does the bank have to refund me after a phishing attack?.
- If it was a transfer or a payment to a private seller, the criminal route and following the money trail carry more weight.
What you can get
It depends on the case: recovering the money, in full or in part; a conviction of the person responsible; compensation. You will not always succeed, which is why the first step is an honest assessment of how much room you have.
Even if it is a small amount, report it
There is a lot of small-scale fraud that no one reports, out of laziness or the sense that it will lead nowhere. But behind a fraudulent purchase there is usually a network with dozens of victims, and one report added to others is what lets investigators pull the thread. For you, it is also the first step to making a claim. Not reporting is, almost always, exactly what they are counting on.
When to call a lawyer
If the amount is significant, if several of you have been affected, or if the fraud has real technical depth (cloned websites, impersonation, card details), that is where a specialist firm changes the outcome: we know how to follow the trail and steer the claim down the path that goes furthest. Our practice area is cybercrime.
One thing to do right now: do not pay the seller again for any reason they give you.
Frequently asked questions
I bought something and it never arrived. Is that a crime or just a consumer issue?
It can be both. If you were deceived into paying for something that did not exist or was not what was offered, there are signs of fraud. Looking at your particular case lets us choose the route (criminal, consumer, or against the bank) with the best chance of working.
I paid by card. Can I ask for the charge to be reversed?
In quite a few cases, yes, especially if the transaction can be treated as unauthorised or non-conforming. It pays to act quickly and put the claim to your bank; we can guide you on how to frame it.
Is it worth reporting if it is only a small amount?
Yes. Beyond getting your own claim started, a report adds valuable information against networks with many victims. Not reporting is often precisely what the scammers want.
I bought from a private seller through a second-hand app. Do I have any options?
It depends on how the payment was made and what trail it left. Some cases have real scope and others are harder; we weigh that up before you spend time or money.