§ 01The brief
The client had paid for flights, 'visa fees' and a 'business investment' for someone she met online, by wire and by credit card to a website that turned out to be fake. Some charges were more than 120 days old.
§ 02What I did
- 1.
Sorted every wire and charge by date against the bank's recall window and the card network's dispute window.
- 2.
Built a dispute file for the in-time charges showing the merchant never provided any service, and recall requests for the last three wires.
- 3.
Explained honestly which older payments could not be pursued, so she did not pay for work that would fail.
§ 03The outcome
The issuer approved disputes on $52,000, and the receiving bank returned $160,000 from the most recent wires. The remaining $508,000 had left the accounts before she contacted me.