Have you been a victim of online transaction fraud? If you have bought items on eBay or other 3rd party marketplaces, you have probably had an experience with a seller who has tried to take your money without delivering on her promise.
If you are a victim of online fraud, you are not without hope.
There are steps you can take to prevent and fight online fraud: PayPal Protection: Most online marketplaces allow you to use PayPal as the safer method of payment.
PayPal comes with numerous protection policies for sellers and buyers.
Unfortunately, unethical sellers always find holes in the best protections plans.
For instance, if you buy a digital product using PayPal, and you do not receive your product, there is a good chance that you won't get your money back.
But you should file your dispute with PayPal regardless and push them to move your case forward.
Credit Card fraud protection: if PayPal does not honor its buyer protection policy, you should contact your credit card issuer to ask for a charge-back.
Most credit card companies will ask you for transaction details to investigate.
So there is a chance that your chargeback can be rejected (especially if PayPal challenges your charge-back).
It is essential for you to use a $0 fraud liability card to make sure you are protected to some level.
You should also provide your credit issuer with proper documentation to help them resolve the situation in your favor.
The best way to go is to save all the communications and transaction documents that you have from the seller and forward them to your issuer's investigation team.
Internet Crime Compliant center: if your charge-back is rejected by your card issuer, you should contact the authorities about your online transaction.
Internet Crime Compliant Center (IC3.
gov) is one of the best places to go to file a police report against the fraudulent seller.
You need to make sure you have all the documentation handy to provide the investigators with information about the seller.
Please make sure to use this as the very last resort.
If you file a complaint with IC3.
gov, real investigators will be on your case, which means you will be held responsible for any lies.
So make sure to tell the truth.
Online fraud is very common these days.
While services such as PayPal make it hard for fraud artists to trick folks, fraud still happens every day.
By using a safe credit card you can protect yourself against most fraud cases, but in worst case scenario you should not be shy about contacting the authorities to report any fraud cases.