With Christmas fast approaching, it’s important that we don’t rush our festive shopping. It’s easy to get swept away with online offers, next day delivery promises and Black Friday sales.
It’s important that you don’t give money or personal details to anyone you don’t know or trust. However, if you do get caught out in a scam, there are some ways you could get your money back, depending on how you paid.
Bank card or PayPal
- Your card provider can request the seller’s bank to refund the money. This is known as the chargeback scheme which is not a legal requirement and all card providers have different rules
- If you paid by debit card, you can request a chargeback regardless of the amount
- 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
Bank transfer or Direct Debit
- Contact your bank immediately to let them know what’s happened and ask if you can get a refund
- Banks may reimburse you if you’ve transferred money to someone because of a scam. This type of scam is known as an ‘authorised push payment’ (see p1)
- If you’ve paid by Direct Debit, you should be able to get a full refund under the Direct Debit Guarantee
Money transfer service
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. However, there are other things you can do, such as reporting the scam to the Police and getting financial or emotional support from Citizens Advice.
Protect yourself when using a money transfer service by:
- Only sending money to someone you know
- Choosing a password that’s hard to guess
- Not sharing your password with others.
Jersey Fraud Prevention Forum issues educational newsletters across the island twice a year to raise awareness about current scams targeting local residents, in particular the elderly and vulnerable. Its latest newsletter focuses on Christmas specific scams relating to online shopping and digital gifts.
To read the Forum’s newsletter click here.
