A checklist for preserving evidence after a suspected fraud

In short

This list is so that the traces do not scatter after a suspicion of fraud. A bank or an IBAN, an online purchase, a social-media account, a false listing, a deposit, an allegation of an investment or of crypto, and misuse of identity or account information do not go into the same pack. Each is read with its own record. Ticking a box does not mean that the offence is proved.

The first steps

1. Tell the bank or the payment institution about the transaction and keep the record of the application. That notification does not mean that the money will come back.
2. Copy the transfer receipt, the account movements and the time of the transaction without deleting them.
3. Do not leave the correspondence as nothing but a screenshot. If the original message, the address and the username are still there, set those aside as well.
4. Note the listing, the profile, the address, the username and the telephone somewhere. Do not write the note onto this site.
5. If the platform has its own notification record, keep the number. A notification to the platform does not take the place of an examination by the public prosecutor.
6. Put the documents in date order for a complaint or for a report of the offence. Where and how to apply is in a criminal complaint for fraud.
7. A criminal investigation, and a civil or enforcement route considered for getting the money back, are not the same petition.

What is not promised

There is no urgent period, no date of a refund, and no result of the kind that the money comes back if a particular step is taken. The elements are in the offence of fraud. The digital appearance is in internet fraud. The discussion of a refund stays in return of the money. The frame of the service is on the criminal law page.