Check if you can get your money back after a scam

If you've paid for something you haven't received, you might be able to get your money back.

Your card provider can ask the seller's bank to refund the money. This is known as the 'chargeback scheme'.

If you paid by debit card, you can use chargeback however much you paid.

If you paid by credit card and the item cost more than £100 but less than £30,000, you might be able to claim under the Consumer Credit Act - this is known as a 'Section 75 claim'.

If the item cost less than £100 and you paid by credit card, you can't use Section 75, but you can use chargeback.

See our advice on getting your money back if you paid by card or PayPal.

Contact your bank immediately to let them know what’s happened and ask if you can get a refund.

Most banks should reimburse you if you’ve transferred money to someone because of a scam. This type of scam is known as an ‘authorised push payment’.

If you've paid by Direct Debit, you should be able to get a full refund under the Direct Debit Guarantee.

If you can’t get your money back and you think this is unfair, you should follow the bank’s official complaints process. If your complaint isn’t sorted out in 8 weeks, or you get a final response letter, you can take your case to the Financial Ombudsman.

It’s unlikely you’ll be able to get your money back if you’ve paid through a wire service such as MoneyGram, PayPoint or Western Union.

Even if you can’t get your money back, there are other things you can do – like reporting the scam and getting financial or emotional support.

There are things you can do to protect yourself if you ever need to use a money transfer service again.

You should:

• only send money to someone you know

• choose a password that’s hard to guess and don’t share it with others

It's unlikely you'll get your money back if you used vouchers or gift cards to pay the scammer.

To protect yourself in future, never give numbers on the back of a gift card or voucher to anyone you don't know.