Paid at a scam webshop? Do this now

1. Call your card issuer or bank now and dispute the payment (a "chargeback") for goods not received or counterfeit goods. Many banking apps have a built-in dispute flow on the transaction itself.
2. Gather evidence before you file: order confirmation, payment receipt, screenshots of the shop and product page, every message you sent or received. Attach all of it.
3. If the shop promised delivery and never shipped, say so explicitly — for undelivered goods the dispute window is counted from the promised delivery date, not just the payment date.
4. If the first agent says nothing can be done, ask in writing for the formal chargeback process under the card scheme's rules. Front-line staff regularly get this wrong; the written route works.

Deadline: Roughly 120 days from payment or promised delivery (Visa/Mastercard rules) — but file this week, not next month.

Template letter

1. Open a dispute in the PayPal Resolution Center: "Item not received" or "Significantly not as described". Do it from the payment itself in your activity list.
2. A dispute alone expires. Escalate it to a CLAIM within 20 days of opening it — only a claim forces PayPal to decide and refund.
3. Paid via "Friends & Family"? Buyer protection does not apply. If the PayPal payment was funded by your credit card, dispute it with the card issuer instead (see the card tab).
4. Respond to every PayPal evidence request quickly — missing one deadline closes the claim for good.

Deadline: 180 days from payment to open the dispute; 20 days to escalate it to a claim.

1. Report the problem inside the app right now ("order not received" / "problem with my order"). Reporting PAUSES the invoice: no reminders, no collections while it's investigated.
2. You haven't paid yet — that is maximum leverage. If the shop can't prove delivery, the pay-later provider cancels the invoice and eats the loss, not you.
3. Never just ignore the invoice without reporting it first: an unreported unpaid invoice goes to a collection agency even when the shop was fake.
4. Add your evidence in the app: order confirmation, screenshots, seller silence. The stronger the file, the faster the cancellation.

Deadline: Report before the invoice due date — the report itself stops the clock.

1. Call your bank immediately and ask for a payment recall on the transfer. Speed is everything: if the receiving account hasn't been emptied yet, banks can freeze and return the money.
2. File a police report today and get a case number — banks act faster on recalls that carry an official fraud report, and some require one.
3. Also report it to your national fraud reporting service; they alert the receiving bank and connect cases against the same account.
4. Ask your bank in writing for the outcome of the recall and, if funds were already gone, for the receiving bank's fraud-desk confirmation. Paper trail wins appeals.

Deadline: Hours matter, not days. Call the bank first, then the police, today.

Template letter

1. Be realistic: payments in crypto, gift cards or cash are almost never recoverable. Shift your energy to containment and reporting — it protects you and the next victim.
2. If you also entered card details anywhere in the process, block that card now and watch the statements.
3. Report it anyway: police, your national fraud service, and the exchange or gift-card issuer. Reports are how wallets get flagged and scam infrastructure gets taken down.
4. Anyone who now contacts you promising to recover your crypto for a fee IS the next scam ("recovery scam"). No legitimate service does this.

Deadline: No recovery deadline applies — do the containment steps today.