Scam Detective
$2 · Check a link you were sentOpens the card form. Score out of 100, a plain-English verdict, up to five red flags with the evidence, and a 3-step what-to-do-now list.Or run the free verdict first — score and two red flags, no card.
$29 · Brand Impersonation AuditOpens the card form. Every lookalike we confirm resolving, dated, with its evidence and a takedown request drafted for you to send.Or get free counts on your own domain first — no card.
You already paid — what to do now

Paid a fake store? How to ask your bank for your money back

You paid a website, something is wrong, and you want your money back. This page is the ordinary route a person takes with their own bank or card issuer after that happens, written once and in plain language — plus the dated record we already published for the address you paid, if it is one we have checked.

We are not your bank, not a law firm and not a fund-recovery service. We cannot tell you whether a dispute will succeed, how long one takes, or what your issuer's rules are — only your issuer can. What we hold is a dated record of what this web address served on the day we checked it.

The bank dispute route, in plain language

This is the ordinary path a person takes with their own bank or card issuer after paying a website that turned out not to be what it looked like. It is a description of the route, not advice about your case, and every decision in it belongs to your issuer. The route is the same whichever address you paid, so it is written here once rather than repeated on sixty near-identical pages. What differs between addresses is the evidence, and that sits with each address below.

  1. 1Save the records before they move

    Write down the exact web address you paid, the date, the amount, and the name that appears on your card statement or bank app — it is often nothing like the shop name. Keep the order confirmation, any emails or messages from the store, and a screenshot of what you thought you were buying. A dispute is handled on records, and a storefront's pages can change or disappear without notice.

  2. 2Contact your card issuer or bank yourself

    Use a channel you already know is theirs: the number printed on the back of your card, or the message centre inside their own app. Do not use a phone number, link or “refund form” supplied by the store, by an email about your order, or by an ad — a second approach after a first loss is a well-known pattern, and this one step removes it.

  3. 3Say plainly what happened, and ask what they need

    Tell them what you paid for, what did or did not arrive, and that you believe the website is not the brand's own store. Then ask them what their process is called, what evidence they want, and by when. Every issuer runs its own process, sets its own deadlines and makes its own decision — that answer has to come from them, not from us, and we do not interpret their rules for you.

  4. 4Attach dated evidence, not only a description

    Send your own transaction records together with something dated and independent about the website itself. Evidence does not decide a dispute — your issuer does — but it means your description of the site is not only your word for it.

  5. 5Keep the reference, and answer follow-ups quickly

    Note the reference number, the date, and what you were told the next step is. If your issuer asks for anything more, send it as soon as you can. We cannot tell you how long any of this takes; the person handling your case can.

  6. 6Close the door behind you

    If you entered card details on the site, say so when you call — your issuer will tell you what they do about that. If you reused a password there, change it everywhere else you used it. Neither step is about the money you have already paid; both are about the next attempt.

Paid by bank transfer, a wallet top-up or crypto rather than a card? The first move is the same: tell the provider you paid through, as soon as you can, and ask what options they have. We make no claim about what any provider will or will not be able to do.

Evidence does not decide a dispute — your issuer does. What a dated, independent record adds is that the website you are describing was documented by someone other than you, on a stated date, before you complained.

Everything on this page is a point-in-time record. We do not monitor this domain, we are not watching it for changes, and a website's status can change any day.

What we do not do

  • We do not recover funds. Nobody here contacts the site, its operator, or your bank on your behalf, and no money passes through us.
  • We make no promise about your dispute. Not the outcome, not the timing, not whether your issuer will accept a claim at all. Anyone who does promise that is guessing.
  • We give no legal advice and we do not interpret your bank's or card network's rules. Their process, their deadlines and their decision are theirs to state.
  • We do not monitor these domains. Everything here is a record of a named date, not a statement about today. A website's status can change any day.

Every address we have documented — 60 of them

Every web address we have documented and dated is listed below. Find the one on your statement to see what we recorded, when we checked it, and what we observed the last time we looked. If your address is not on this list we hold no dated record for it — that is a gap in what we have checked, not a verdict that the site is fine, and we will not sell you evidence we do not have.

Last completed re-verification round: 6 October 2026. We describe what each page serves; we make no assertion about any registrant’s intent or criminality, and nothing here is legal advice.

See the same list grouped by the brand each one copies — 56 brands, each with the date we checked it. Not out of pocket and just checking a link? Run a free check on the address instead.

Questions people ask at this point

I paid a fake store. How do I get my money back?
Start with the bank or card issuer you paid through, not with the website. Save every record you have, contact your issuer through a channel you already know is theirs, describe the payment and ask them what their own process needs from you, attach dated evidence, and keep the reference number. This page is a factual record and a description of the ordinary dispute route, not legal advice and not a promise about any outcome. We do not recover funds, do not contact the site's operator on your behalf, and name no registrar or hosting provider here.
Do you contact the store, or my bank, for me?
No. We do not recover funds and we do not contact a site's operator or your issuer on your behalf. What we publish is a dated, independent record of what a hostname was serving when we checked it, which you can attach to a dispute you raise yourself. Everything on this page is a point-in-time record. We do not monitor this domain, we are not watching it for changes, and a website's status can change any day.
The address I paid is not on your list. What does that mean?
It means we have not checked it, and nothing more than that. Our list is a record of the addresses we have looked at and dated — being absent from it is not a finding that a site is genuine, and we will not sell you evidence we do not hold. You can run a free check on the address instead and take that result to your issuer yourself.
Is the evidence pack worth paying for if the record is already free?
That is your call, and the record stays free either way. The pack turns the same published record into one document addressed to a dispute team — the dated finding, every artefact we published for that address as numbered exhibits, and a written statement with spaces for your own transaction details. No new research runs and nothing is invented. Evidence does not decide a dispute — your issuer does. What a dated, independent record adds is that the website you are describing was documented by someone other than you, on a stated date, before you complained.

Scam Detective — pay-per-use scam intelligence. One-off checks, no subscription, no account.

This page is a factual record and a description of the ordinary dispute route, not legal advice and not a promise about any outcome. We do not recover funds, do not contact the site's operator on your behalf, and name no registrar or hosting provider here.

Every finding here is an assessment of publicly available information at the time of the check, and is not legal advice. We produce the evidence and the correctly addressed request; on a Takedown Engagement we submit it to the abuse desks as the customer’s authorized agent, which is an administrative act and not legal representation. We do not monitor continuously and never contact the registrant on a customer’s behalf, and no outcome or timeline is guaranteed. Confirm your own trademark position before sending anything adversarial.Each hostname's status above was captured on the date printed beside it and may have changed since. 25 addresses whose records carry artefacts or a self-check of their own also have a page of their own; the other 35 are documented here, at /refund#featherstoneoutdoorgear-shop and so on.

Questions about the pack? scam-detective8@mail.acoco.ai