A bank refund from a fake broker rarely works now. The money goes to mule cards and into crypto, and those transfers do not fit a chargeback.
File a police report first
File it even if you do not expect the money back. The report records that you sent the transfer as a victim, not as a participant in someone else’s scheme. If those funds later appear in a case about money laundering, terrorist financing or another person’s crime, you will have a report on file, not only an outgoing payment.
A chargeback is realistic in a narrow case: you entered card details as payment for goods or a service, and the bank processed it as a purchase. Investment scams almost never work that way anymore. A transfer to a private person’s card, an instant payment or crypto is usually outside chargeback.
Platforms that advertise online — including ads that passed Google or Yandex review — will tell you the opposite. Names and domains change often, so reviews of one brand go stale quickly. The storefront is often a real but idle company that is not actually running the scheme.
After a loss, “helpers” almost always write. At first they promise a refund and do not ask for money. That is how fake lawyers, fake regulators, fake exchanges, people “from the police” or “from Interpol”, fake insurers, authors of nonexistent laws, fake detectives, fake associations, “forensic experts” and “hackers” introduce themselves.
Then the script is the same: the money has been found, but to release it you must pay a commission, a tax, insurance, account rent, a crypto-wallet top-up or a “concierge” fee. That is not a refund. Do not send it to anyone.
Regulators, exchanges, associations and NGOs — domestic or foreign — do not return victims’ money from scammers’ accounts. A letter that says “the regulator approved your payout” is the trick.
Where to report it
The small chance that does exist sits with the police, and the report is worth filing anyway. In Russia that is the economic-crime and anti-corruption unit (UEBiPK; it used to be widely called OBEP), not only the neighborhood duty desk. Elsewhere, look for the service that handles financial and economic crime.
Use the official police website of your own country. In Russia that is the citizen request form on мвд.рф. In Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Belarus and other countries, use the police site or the public complaint portal. Keep the reference number and a copy of what you sent.
Do not leave your phone number in open chats or under someone else’s article. The next “lawyer” will call it.
If the money went to a private person’s card
When a transfer to an individual’s card was obtained by deception under the guise of an investment, a Russian court may treat it as unjust enrichment under the Civil Code. The claim is filed where that person — the mule, or “drop” — is registered. Those defendants often have no assets to collect from.
This is a general description, not a forecast for your case. The outcome depends on the documents, the deadlines and whether the defendant can be found. This site is not a court and not a law firm.
Anyone who promises a refund with no upfront fee will almost always ask for one later, once “the money has been found”. Do not send a commission, a tax or a crypto-wallet top-up to a “bank”, an “exchange” or a confident voice on the phone.
We do not recommend particular “refund lawyers”. The chance that a stranger on the internet will recover the money for a percentage is close to zero, and the pitch usually repeats the first broker.
If someone promises a refund in the name of Vernut Dengi or vernutdengi.net and asks for a commission, a tax, insurance or a wallet top-up, they are scammers. Write to us through the form on this site. We do not take an advance for “found” funds.
A consultation here is a look at the documents and a route: bank, claim, police. It is not a promise of a refund and not a substitute for a lawyer. Information service. Not a regulator or bank. Refunds depend on circumstances and decisions by banks, courts and processors.
Who not to believe
- A voice on the phone that has “already found everything” and needs payment today.
- Exposé sites that end by recommending a specific refund lawyer. That is often the second funnel.
- Letters “from an exchange” or “from a regulator” when the sender’s address is not that organisation’s real domain.
- A story in which your money “sits in a bank in another country” and release requires activation, account rent or a crypto-wallet key.
If you need your own case looked at
Ask about a specific platform through the request form. We do not publish phone numbers in the open: other people would see them too. A request does not guarantee a refund. We look at the documents and say which step, if any, is still available.