Have you been scammed? Here is what to do.

If you have been scammed or suspect you might be the victim of fraud, here is what to do:

1) Check again. Make sure that the company or person who you've done business with really has been trying to fraud you and isn't just slow, unlucky with the delivery or have made a simple mistake. A quick way to check is to search this site and Google for notes on the company in question. If you are in doubt, act as if it is a fraud, but do so discretely (there is no reason to discredit perfectly earnest people).

2) Collect all the information you can on your transactions and communication with the company. This information will become handy later. Save e-mail and letters, copy chat logs, tape phone calls or write down date, time, name of the supporter and notes from the conversation.

3) Contact your bank or credit card company and dispute pending payments with the company suspected of fraud. They should also be able to issue a refund for money already paid, and you can then let their collections department attempt to recover the money.

4) Inform the company of your suspicion. If they are a lawful company they will in most cases act quickly to clear their name and settle the dispute. Be warned though, that an illegal company might be even quicker just to get off the hook. Thus it can be a good idea to accept the company's offer of redemption, but do still log all communication and leave a discrete comment on a page like this one. If several cases arise there is probably a reason you became anxious and we can then act in unison against the scammers.

5) If the company does not make believable acts of redemption within reasonable time (10 working days will do) you can begin taking action(s) against the fraud:
- By sharing your experiences at forums like this you help others avoid your trouble, get support in punishing the perpetrators and help confirm suspected illegal companies. In this way you also make business much harder for those who scammed you, as their reputation will be rapidly discredited.
- By filing complaints with national and international business law organisations (such as the BBB, IC3, RCMP, etc.) you can add to the attention given to the case in particular. When enough people have filed complaints against a particular company federal action will be taken to close down the business and punish the people responsible for the fraud.
- By filing a lawsuit you might be able to get the responsible behind the company judged before a court. However, many of these scammers hide behind endless layers of lies and veils and investigations can take many years and cost horrendous amounts of money. If you are not prepared to use a personal fortune, possibly to no avail, it will be better to report you experience to forums and official agencies and allow the investigation to done in unison.

6) Look out for other scams and off-shots of the company that scammed you. In these cases, repeat the above points for each company.

Good luck with your case! And please let us know of your troubles and victories.

Best regards,
Søren Ekelund