Symptoms

Typical online fraud symptoms include:

• You buy something but it doesn’t arrive.
• You sell something and deliver it but don’t get paid.
• What you bought doesn’t match the original description.
• You hoped to win a lottery prize and paid an administrative or advance fee but didn’t get the cash.
• An online business opportunity wasn’t as lucrative as you expected.
• You received a letter or email from someone who promised a share of a substantial fortune in return for your help.
• You bought software that has been pirated.
• You made an unsuccessful investment based on advice received by email or a website.

Immediate actions

• Don’t hand over any more money.
• Check with the buyer or seller to see if you can resolve the problem informally.
• For auction, classified or other person-to-person sales see if the company that made the introduction offers a dispute resolution service.
• If you paid with a credit card, contact the card issuer to ask for an investigation.
• If you paid using an online payment service, such as PayPal, or an escrow service check their website to see if you qualify for their fraud protection programs.
• If you suspect that your identity may be used by criminals, see Undo identity theft.
• Learn more about advance fee fraud (see Don't fall for advance fee fraud).
• Where appropriate, keep print outs of web pages, emails and receipts and records of any phone conversations in case you need to complain or take legal action.

Action Fraud is the new place to report fraud 

• Action Fraud is the UK’s national fraud reporting centre.
• If you’ve been scammed, ripped off or conned, there is something you can do about it. Speak to Action Fraud.
• If online shopping fraud has cost you money, call them now.
• If you’ve been a victim of identity theft, please get in touch.
• It is possible to beat fraud if we talk.
• Early recognition of fraud can be vital, so no matter whether you think you’ve been a victim of fraud or you just want to know how to protect yourself, this is the place to start.
• Action Fraud is a central point of contact to call and get help if you’ve been a victim of fraud.

To use the online reporting tool click 

To call and report a fraud Tel: 0300 123 20 40

Check for hoaxes

You can check if you have received a common email hoax on one of the following sites:

• Hoaxbusters.
• Symantec.

Next steps

These two organisations offer advice about consumer rights, complaints and taking legal action to resolve problems:

• e-victims.org
• Citizen’s Advice Bureaux.
• Consumer Direct.

You can also call a Consumer Direct advisor on: 08454 04 05 06.