How to get your money back from a scam website
Updated September 30, 2026 · by the IsLegitOrNot team
If you paid a scam website, your best chance of a refund is through the company that handled the payment: your card issuer, PayPal or your bank. The website itself will not refund you. How you paid decides what you can do, and speed matters for every method.
Paid by credit or debit card: ask for a chargeback
A chargeback reverses a card payment when the seller did not deliver what you paid for. Call the number on the back of your card or use your banking app, say the payment went to a fraudulent website, and ask to dispute it. Card networks usually allow disputes for several months after the payment, but your bank may have shorter internal deadlines, so do it the same day you realise.
- Ask the bank to cancel the card if you saved it on the site.
- Give the date, the amount, the website address and what happened.
- Say whether the goods never arrived, were fake, or were very different from the description.
Paid with PayPal: open a dispute
Go to the Resolution Center in your PayPal account and open a dispute for "item not received" or "significantly not as described". Disputes have a time limit counted from the payment date, so do not wait for a late delivery that will never come. If the seller does not respond, escalate the dispute to a claim. Payments sent as "friends and family" are usually not covered.
Paid by bank transfer: call your bank immediately
Bank transfers are the hardest to recover because the money moves straight to the scammer's account. Call your bank's fraud line right away and ask them to try to recall the payment. In some countries, banks must reimburse certain victims of authorised push payment fraud, so ask whether that applies to you.
Paid with crypto, gift cards or payment apps
These payments are very hard to reverse. Contact the gift card company or the app provider anyway, report the fraud to the police, and keep the receipts. Treat any site that only accepts these methods as a warning sign next time.
Evidence to collect before you call
- The website address and screenshots of the product page and checkout.
- Your order confirmation, emails and any tracking number you received.
- Your bank or PayPal transaction record.
- Photos of anything that did arrive, if it was fake or wrong.
Beware of "fund recovery" services
People who lose money online are often contacted by companies or "hackers" who promise to recover it for a fee. These are almost always a second scam. Only work with your bank, your card issuer, PayPal and the police.
Next steps
Report the website so others are warned: see where to report a scam website in your country, and share what happened on our site. Before your next order from an unknown shop, run it through our website legit checker.