Scammed? What now
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Scammed? What nowUpdated

I paid an online shop (maybe a fake one) and nothing arrives. What now?

Do this now

Short answer

Call your bank or card issuer straight away, tell them an online shop took your money and has not delivered, and ask what can still be done with your payment. Then file a police report online and keep all the evidence. If you paid by credit card, debit card, PayPal or Klarna, you may be able to claim the money back through that payment service.

What should I do now?

  1. Call your bank or card issuer now

    Look the number up yourself, on your card or your bank's website, and do not use one from an e-mail or chat. Say you paid an online shop that has not delivered and ask what can still be done with your payment. Veilig Bankieren, the Dutch banks' joint safety website, advises always reporting fraud to your bank. Did you enter your credit card details at checkout? Rabobank warns that criminals can misuse them, so also ask whether your card should be blocked.

    Source: veiligbankieren.nl (opens in a new window)

  2. Keep all the evidence

    Take screenshots of the shop, the product page, your order confirmation and every e-mail or chat. Keep the bank statement showing the date, amount and recipient as well: Betaalvereniging Nederland, the Dutch Payments Association, lists your statement and all communication as evidence you may need later. Check who received the money. If your statement first shows a payment service provider, such as 'Mollie *' followed by the shop's name, the money did not go straight to the seller, Rabobank explains. That decides which route is open to you.

    Source: rabobank.nl (opens in a new window)

  3. Ask the shop once, in writing, to deliver or refund

    E-mail what you ordered, when and for how much, and give a reasonable deadline to deliver or pay you back. Banks, card issuers, PayPal and Klarna may ask for proof that you asked the seller for a solution first, even if it never replies. If the shop is real and no delivery date was agreed, Dutch law says it must deliver within 30 days (Article 7:9 of the Dutch Civil Code, BW). If it still has not delivered after your deadline, you may cancel the purchase and it must refund everything you paid (Article 7:19a BW). ACM ConsuWijzer, the information desk of the Dutch consumer authority, has a sample letter for this (in Dutch).

    Source: consument.acm.nl (opens in a new window)

  4. Claim the money back through the way you paid

    Credit card: dispute the payment with your card issuer. With ICS you can do this if the seller has not replied after 7 days, and no later than 3 months after the transaction date. Debit card: some banks offer a service for this, such as ING's GeldTerugService, through 'Probleem melden' (report a problem) on the payment in the app. PayPal: open a dispute in the Resolution Centre within 180 days of paying. Klarna or pay later: do not pay the invoice yet and choose 'Report a problem' in the app, and Klarna pauses your payment. ACM ConsuWijzer explains which payment methods give you this protection.

    Source: consument.acm.nl (opens in a new window)

  5. File a police report online

    If you know the shop's domain name, the Dutch police recommend reporting it online at politie.nl. You need DigiD, the Dutch government login, and you first go through a short questionnaire. If you cannot report online, book an appointment on 0900-8844. If you do not know the seller's phone number or e-mail address, enter ten zeros or onbekend@onbekend.com. The police assess every report; allow roughly 10 to 15 working days. If the goods arrive after all, you can withdraw the report in Mijn Politie.

    Source: politie.nl (opens in a new window)

  6. Paid by bank transfer? Ask your bank to reclaim it

    Only the recipient can reverse a bank transfer or an iDEAL payment, says Betaalvereniging Nederland. For a bank transfer, including a payment request such as Tikkie, your bank can still ask the recipient to pay the money back. This works if you made the transfer yourself through internet or mobile banking, you reported it to the police first, the payment is less than 13 months old, the recipient has not paid it back, you do not have the recipient's address and cannot easily look it up yourself, both IBANs start with NL, both banks are members of Betaalvereniging Nederland and the police seller check 'Check de (ver)koper' shows a warning for the recipient's IBAN. Take a screenshot of that warning. This procedure does not apply to iDEAL. If your payment went through a payment service provider such as Mollie or Stripe, report it to that provider: Rabobank says it can sometimes help.

    Source: betaalvereniging.nl (opens in a new window)

  7. Report it to the Fraudehelpdesk and ACM ConsuWijzer

    The Fraudehelpdesk, the Dutch fraud helpline, tells you which organisation to go to, advises on limiting the damage and warns others. Report through the form on fraudehelpdesk.nl or by phone on 088-786 7372; reports sent by e-mail are not handled. The police recommend also reporting an online shop to ACM ConsuWijzer. There you can check whether the shop followed the rules. Your report helps the ACM choose what to act on, though it cannot investigate every company. If a shop breaks the rules, the ACM can have it taken offline.

    Source: fraudehelpdesk.nl (opens in a new window)

  8. Ignore unsolicited offers to get your money back

    After a scam, new scammers sometimes approach the victims. They pose as a lawyer or notary, promise to recover your money and ask you to pay first. The Fraudehelpdesk calls this recovery fraud: once you pay, nothing happens. Calls are also made in the name of the Fraudehelpdesk itself, but it never contacts you about banking matters. Contact your bank or an official body yourself, on a number you looked up yourself.

    Source: fraudehelpdesk.nl (opens in a new window)

Will I get my money back?

It depends on how you paid, and nobody can promise it.

Credit card: you can dispute the payment. With ICS you must do this no later than 3 months after the transaction date. If your dispute has a reasonable chance of success, ICS deducts the amount from your outstanding balance provisionally. You keep paying your credit card bill in the meantime, and it can take several months.

Debit card: ING offers its GeldTerugService within 120 days of the debit or of the agreed delivery date; ask your own bank what it offers.

PayPal: open a dispute within 180 days of paying. Payments sent to 'friends and family' are not covered by purchase protection.

Klarna: you do not have to pay the invoice until you have your order, but you must report the problem. A 'goods not received' claim can be made up to 120 days after purchase.

iDEAL payments and bank transfers are irrevocable: only the recipient can pay you back. For a bank transfer your bank can ask for the money back under certain conditions, but even then there is no guarantee.

Article 7:528 BW requires your bank to refund a payment you did not authorise. If you paid the shop yourself, that duty does not apply. Banks usually reimburse bank-helpdesk fraud as a goodwill gesture, because their name is misused; on Veilig Bankieren they mention no such scheme for paying an online shop.

Do you later see card payments you did not make yourself? Report them at once. Those are unauthorised payments, which your bank should in principle refund by the end of the next working day, unless you acted fraudulently, deliberately or with gross negligence (Articles 7:528 and 7:529 BW).

If the shop is real but bankrupt, the trustee (curator) decides who gets what, and you may get nothing back or only part.

Make your letter

Fill in your details and you get a letter or summary that you check and send yourself. FFCheck sends nothing and files no police report or notification for you.

Read in the Is Dit Veilig? guide how this scam works and how to recognise it next time.

Read the guide

Problem by problem, which organisation to call or e-mail: FFCheck’s Bij Wie? (Who do I contact?).

Open Bij Wie?

Living in another European country? The ffcheck.eu contact finder names the right organisation for each country.

Official help

  • Your bank or card issuer

    Blocks your card if needed, starts a dispute and, for a bank transfer, can ask the recipient to pay the money back. Veilig Bankieren lists the Dutch banks' fraud numbers.

    veiligbankieren.nl

  • Dutch police (politie.nl)

    Takes your police report for fraud: online with DigiD, or by appointment if online does not work for you.

    0900-8844 politie.nl

  • Fraudehelpdesk (Dutch fraud helpline)

    Advises on your loss and on where to go, and uses reports to warn others. Phone lines open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday 9.00 to 12.00 and 13.00 to 15.30, Wednesday 13.00 to 15.30.

    088-786 7372 fraudehelpdesk.nl

  • ACM ConsuWijzer (Dutch consumer authority)

    Explains your rights if the shop really exists and takes reports about online shops. Phone lines open on working days from 9.30 to 13.00.

    088 070 70 70 consument.acm.nl

  • Kifid (Dutch financial services complaints institute)

    Handles your complaint if your bank or card issuer rejects it. Complain to the bank first. If it gives a final no, or has not answered after 8 weeks, you can go to Kifid within 3 months of that no or within 1 year of your first complaint.

    kifid.nl

Frequently asked questions

Is this a scam, or is the shop just delivering late?

You cannot always tell straight away. According to the Fraudehelpdesk, a shop sometimes has stock problems without meaning to cheat you; ACM ConsuWijzer then helps you with your rights. If no delivery date was agreed, the seller must deliver within 30 days. If the contact details are wrong or the shop has suddenly vanished, ConsuWijzer says it may be fraud. That is a criminal matter: report it to the police.

I paid with iDEAL. Can my bank reverse the payment?

No. iDEAL and Betaalvereniging Nederland both say an iDEAL payment is irrevocable: only the recipient can pay the money back. The banks' reclaim procedure only covers bank transfers. If your statement shows a payment service provider such as Mollie or Stripe, report the payment there; it can sometimes help. Call your bank as well and report it to the police.

How long do I have to claim my money back?

It differs per payment method, so check the terms of your own bank or card. A few examples from the providers themselves: an ICS credit card no later than 3 months after the transaction date, an ING debit card within 120 days, PayPal within 180 days of paying and Klarna within 120 days of purchase. The reclaim procedure for a bank transfer is possible up to 13 months after the payment. Do not wait: ICS asks you to act as soon as possible.

Is a police report worth it if I will not get my money back anyway?

Yes. Your bank needs your police report to reclaim a bank transfer. Rabobank says an IBAN only goes on the police warning list after three reports against the account holder, and that warning is a condition for the procedure. The police also use reports to trace fake websites and prevent new victims.

Will I get the scammer's name and address?

Sometimes. After a bank transfer your bank can ask the recipient to pay the money back. If they have not paid within 21 days, the bank may give you their name and address, unless the recipient objects or the bank is not allowed to share them. You may only use those details for a court case. The recipient is often a money mule: someone who passes the money on for a scammer. Even if the district court rules in your favour, there is no certainty you will get the money back. If you have legal expenses insurance, check whether it covers you.

Someone calls or e-mails saying they can get my money back. Is that real?

Probably not. The Fraudehelpdesk warns about recovery fraud: scammers pose as a lawyer or notary, promise to recover your money and ask you to pay first. After that, nothing happens. Do not respond to help you did not ask for, and find an organisation that can help you yourself.

Official sources

Last checked: 27 October 2026

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