FULL Guide: How To Get Refunded By PayPal For Fake/Counterfeit Items

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Ch Daniel
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Last Updated on September 15, 2023 by Ch David

Have you bought an item online (hyped sneakers, designer clothing) and received fakes? Want your money back?

We’ve got good news.

We’ve helped thousands of people get their money back from a PayPal/card transaction where they were scammed with replicas, fake items or counterfeit clothing pieces/sneakers. We’ve done that with a success rate of +99.99%.

This guide is written as a result of years of studying, improving and reassessing our approach for one purpose: getting your money back from PayPal/card transaction where you were sold replicas.

The good news is that yes, it is possible to get your money back.

It is indeed better if it’d have never happened, but as you’re reading this, you’ve probably been already scammed.

This guide can help you get your money back from a counterfeit item scam if you’ve paid with:

  • PayPal
  • Credit Card

This guide will not work if you’ve paid for your item with:

  • Bank transfers
  • Cash
  • Debit Cards
  • Gift Cards
  • Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency

How to get your money back after a PayPal transaction where you were sold fakes

The reason the 5 payment methods mentioned above can not yield you a refund for a scam is that they’re “definitive” payments — once your amount of money has been moved, it can’t be retrieved.

If you’ve been precautious enough to only use PayPal as a means of transacting (which, as we’ve highlighted in our guide for “Buying safely online”, should be the go-to way of transacting when buying), then you’re in the green area: you are able to get your money back.

As soon as you log in into your PayPal account on Paypal.com, you will want to go to the “Activity” tab, found on the navigation bar.

Once there, you’ll need to find the problematic transaction.

If you can’t see the transaction, use the Start-End calendar icon area found in the upper left corner.

This will allow you to extend the range of transactions shown by changing the time interval that’s shown to you.

The button you’re looking for looks like this:

Once you’ve found the transaction, click on it and the box will extend, giving you more information like so:

As highlighted, what you will need out of the extended set of information is the transaction ID.

Copy that transaction ID and paste it in the following URL:

https://www.paypal.com/resolutioncenter/contact/snad/XXXX

Instead of the “XXXX” input at the end of this link, simply copy the transaction ID and go to that link.

For instance, if your transaction ID would be “80319579DE1843225”, then the link you’d go to would be: https://www.paypal.com/resolutioncenter/contact/snad/80319579DE1843225

Alternatively, you can use a button that may or may not be there, at the bottom end of this box that just extended. As you can see, I haven’t had it here and for some reasons known only by PayPal employees, this button is sometimes not there. Nonetheless, the link we’ve given above sends you to the same place — but as PayPal’s web app is subject to change, we need to note this down.

If you choose to get to this area of their website manually, make sure you find the “Report a problem” button, or a button with similar text. Once there, report a dispute for something along the lines of “Item that’s significantly not as described”

If everything went well, then you must end up on this screen:

This is where you will finally file your claim. Let’s address each input field individually.

Under “What did you purchase”, you will need to tick the Product box.

Under the second input box, you can add a link to the listing where you’ve found the item, the seller’s Facebook profile or any other link that may be relevant. I suggest adding something here if possible, just to give more background info on the transaction for the PayPal representative. Not adding one isn’t a bad thing but a link can do nothing but help you.

Under “What’s wrong with the item”, you will want to tick two boxes:

  1. Different
  2. Other

Under the “partial/full refund” field, make sure you fill in manually the full amount of the transaction, as that’s what you’re after. Definitely not a partial refund.

Under “provide additional information”, give as much detail as possible about the whole transaction. We’re going deeper into what you should write here in the following sections of this written guide. Lastly, make sure you attach the link to your Certificate of Authenticity, if you’ve purchased one from us.

In the last field, you will be able to upload a file. This is very important: make sure you download your Certificate of Authenticity from your order’s page (on our website), and upload it here!

Here is where, in full transparency, we’re advertising our service: the Certificate of Authenticity. We’ll keep it short: PayPal representatives need a third party’s certification as proof for the fact that the item is fake.

It’s as easy as this: we provide that, and we’re fair about it. If our Certificate doesn’t get your money back, we will refund you the $60 purchase.

What you need to write in order to get a PayPal refund for a fake item you purchased

Now, we need to take a deeper dive into what you will write PayPal to support your case.

Once you open a case, you will be able to chat with the seller first, with the option to escalate the case, involving a PayPal representative.

The short version of what we’re about to write below is:

  1. Give as much detail as possible
  2. Bring the law into the discussion — you can’t ship counterfeit items, so a return is not a possibility
  3. Don’t blame. Rather, ask for help.
  4. Use a respectful tone (a professional attitude goes a long way!)
  5. Use good grammar
  6. Let the PayPal agent know that you’re aware of your rights
  7. Exert your right to be protected by PayPal

We do suggest you read our full take on this topic, which starts below this line.

Let’s take a step back. The seller is in one of the two situations:

  1. They knew they were selling you counterfeit items and they’ve done the transaction with bad intentions
  2. They weren’t aware that the item they were selling is a replica

As we’ve mentioned above, it is best that you actually take the time to consult with the seller (through the PayPal platform!), simply because he/she might be able to get their money back themselves from a previous PayPal transaction. If that’s the case, please send them this article.

Most of the cases, however, involve a malevolent seller. The reason why you want to negotiate with the person on the other side (or at least take the chance to talk to them) is that doing so becomes important for your PayPal case.

Why?

Remember, the PayPal representative is also a human. What they have to do is use their judgement, just like a judge. They have to clarify who’s in the right and who’s in the wrong.

By showing that you, in fact, tried to negotiate and find a non-combative solution does matter in the “trial”. Does it give you bonus points if you show that you’re a person who wants to show cooperation? It surely does.

Moreover, ill-intended sellers are more likely to either take very long to answer, or to come up with evasive answers. The best-case scenario for you is if they give no answer at all.

Unfortunately, it does happen that the wrong person is given the favoured decision in PayPal cases, even though they were sold fake items. That is why we guarantee our Certificate of Authenticity — if the Certificate doesn’t get you your money back, we will refund the amount you’ve paid our company.

Us suggesting you to go through these steps makes you more and more bulletproof to “pitfalls”.

Wrong decisions are taken sometimes by PayPal representatives — and no wonder. Again, they’re humans as well. But if you go through the procedure we’re explaining here, you will be in the clear area more often than not.

Give as much detail as possible about your PayPal transaction where you were scammed

Picture this: you write the following — “Got scammed pls get me money back thx”

Sending a message to the PayPal representative that handles your case which does not detail the transaction is not going to help you reach a favourable decision.

You will want to capitalise on the fact that an ill-intentioned person will try to hide some facts or details of the transaction — either that, or they will have gaps in what they present.

By giving as many details as possible about the transaction, we mean:

  1. Make sure you note how the seller and yourself have found each other
  2. If the seller’s account is new on that specific platform or his review history is not particularly solid, use that in your favour. However, don’t blame! More on this in a second.
  3. Let them know if there was any communication between you and the seller
  4. Bring to the surface the Certificate of Authenticity written by us — or whatever proof of your item’s authenticity status you might have.
  5. Of course, add whatever other relevant details might help your case!

Bring the law into discussion

It is illegal to ship counterfeit items — that’s a fact.

Now that the truth has come to surface about this specific item that has found its way to your hands, you need to let the PayPal representative know that you’re aware of the law regarding knock-offs.

We know for a fact that no shipping company (such as DHL, TNT, UPS etc.) would agree to ship a counterfeit item and we’ve used this argument in successful disputes — disputes that were granted a refund.

What you can do is call yourself any of these shipping companies and find out the same thing for yourself — then use it in the dispute description.

We don’t suggest you simply listen to us when we say it, as it would be inappropriate. Call yourself shipping companies so you can use this argument truthfully.

As a last note on this point, make sure you don’t have an aggressive tone when bringing the law into the discussion. Be adamant, but professional.

The US Code of Law

If the law argument needs to be stronger, you will have to invoke the certain article of the US Code of Law which stipulates that there are punishments for selling counterfeit goods. What you’ll need to bring up into discussion is Article 2320 of Title 18, which can be read:

  1. On this link, for a better reading experience and better formatting
  2. On this link for the official .gov website which holds the US Code of Law

Don’t blame

As a person who’s trying to do the right thing, the PayPal representative will be biased against you if you’d be presenting childish behaviour, such as blaming the seller.

The truth is: we’ll never know the truth — whether the seller actually meant to harm you or not.

Hence, avoid using a tone that is aggressive or even blaming the seller — it will make it easier for the PayPal representative to side with you.

Use a respectful tone

In this case, you need to remember the tone lawyers use — you might have seen this in movies. To draw back to the previous point, lawyers don’t engage in childish behaviour.

They rather try to put facts forward and let the other person (the judge, in their case) draw the conclusion that they want.

You need to do the same. A respectful tone will show professionalism, which will tilt the scale in your favour. A respectful tone shows that you’re also not looking to abuse the system and it may even show that you’re planning to be a long-term client of PayPal.

That’s what a PayPal representative might spot as he/she’s reading between the lines — and it could be that 0.1% thing that grants you a refund!

Use good grammar

Similar to the first point we’ve drawn earlier (but also to the previous one), a short message with bad grammar will clearly not work in your favour.

You won’t have to use any complicated language or fancy words. All you need to do is show that you’re a respectable individual who’s looking to get a problem sorted out, not someone who’s commanding the PayPal representative to do him right.

That means no acronyms, short or incorrect versions of words.

No “hi can i pls get a refound because…”, but rather the full speech that can help you get your £300, £900 or £3000 purchase back.

Let the PayPal agent know that you’re aware of your rights

On their website, PayPal mentions the fact that, as long as you’re paying for a transaction with their service, they will protect you against “knock-offs”.

Knock-offs is a clear synonym for replica, counterfeit or fake items — that’s a good thing for you. The “law” is not needed to be bent here, as it’s clearly in your favour.

What you need to do, however, is put this right of yours forward. Clearly mention how you’re aware PayPal clearly states they’re protecting people who’ve been scammed with knock-offs and that there would be legal liabilities for their company if, now that it’s been brought forward, they would not solve this problem.

Mention politely how it’s also an obligation of yours to bring forward possibly-criminal behaviour — whether the seller did or did not intend to sell replicas is not under your area of responsibility.

But putting this forward to PayPal surely is! Below is the exact side of PayPal’s website where they state they’re offering protection for those who’ve been sold fake items.

If you’re curious to see this for yourself, have a look at this link and use the “find” function of your favourite browser — look for the “knock-off” or the “knockoff” inscription.

Besides, the same statement can be found under this link, on the third bullet point of the second bulleted list.

Conclusion

While we were asked to write a template of what someone in this situation can write PayPal, we, unfortunately, can not do that.

If we were to do that, everyone would copy-paste that answer and sooner or later everyone will have to suffer — it could even go as far as abusing the PayPal “knock-off” protection.

As a consequence, you will have to shape your message with your words. Fear not, however. Even though we wrote a lot on this topic, your message should not be very long.

100 words or so should be enough for your dispute — feel free to go over if you’ve got more to say, but 100 words minimum should be written here.

Lastly, we do hope this article will help you get your money back. Our ambitious aim is that one day we will make it clear that scammers have no place in the market — and maybe with enough refund requests through PayPal, we will achieve that.

That, in turn, would mean the market would be cleaner. Help us build this dream by exerting your right! But do it — sorry for the pun — rightly. And by that we mean: follow what we’ve written up for you in the paragraphs above this.

Buy safely!


Frequently asked questions about getting your money back from PayPal (refund)

What are some things I can do to prevent this from happening again?

While we do hope you will be able to get your money back from this transaction, there are, indeed, things you can do to make sure this never happens again.

We’ve detailed everything in our guide to purchasing items online safely — which you can read here.

We do suggest you go through our full guide in order to make sure you’re in the right when buying online, and that you won’t find yourself in stressful or painful situations.

Why does it work?

This process works because PayPal, as well as banks, are mediating the service they’re offering you. PayPal goes as far as stating out clearly that they’ll protect you from deceitful transactions where you were sold knock-offs.

While banks don’t say that, they do have a legal obligation which they respect most of the time.

All these mediators, however, need reliable proof for your claim: in other words, they need an expert opinion to state out clearly (and with reasons) why the item you bought is a fake. This is why we’re offering not only this guide, but also our services.

How do I know the Certificate of Authenticity will get me my money back from a PayPal transaction?

We’ve helped hundreds (soon thousands) of people get their money back from a PayPal transaction where they were scammed with replicas, fake items or counterfeit clothing pieces/sneakers. We’ve done that with a success rate of +99.9%.

This guide is written as a result of years of studying, improving and reassessing our approach for one purpose: getting your money back from PayPal/card transaction where you were sold replicas.

The best part about our service? We guarantee it! You won’t have to be worried if it doesn’t work, as we’ll refund the $60 amount you’ve paid for a Certificate if it does not yield you a refund from PayPal/your bank etc.

Can I abuse the PayPal refund process?

We highly suggest against trying to abuse either our system or the PayPal/bank system.

On our end, we will never deliver a Certificate of Authenticity with the “fake” verdict unless we rightfully believe and are able to argument that an item is indeed fake.

Any indication that our service is abused will be punished — we will ban any customer that displays signs of abuse.

What if someone copies your Certificates of Authenticity?

To combat the possibility of anyone forging our Certificates, we’ve decided to keep our Certificates of Authenticity only in digital format. This way, you will be able to know that a document has been issued by us by simply looking at the domain of the website upon which it is hosted.

All our Certificates will have the “legitcheck.app” domain as their base — if we ever are to change our domain, it will be noted in this article and on our main website.

Currently, the only domain where we host our Certificates is the https://legithcheck.app domain.

As much as we’d love to be able to issue physical copies, we’ve decided to avoid the risk of having physical Legit Check By Ch Certificates of Authenticity forged.

How long will it take to have my Certificate issued?

Our timeframe of issuance is 48 hours, from the moment we’ve received all the pictures/details we need in order to perform our service. However, most of the time we will be faster than that.

What if I paid through PayPal Friends and Family? Can I get my money back from a scam with replicas?

Most of the time, payments made through PayPal Friends and Family can not be refunded. However, it’s best that you get in touch with your bank in order to find out more details.


Thank you for reading this,

Ch Daniel and Ch David

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About the Author

Ch Daniel is the co-founder and co-CEO of Legit Check By Ch, one of the world's leading companies in product authentications. Daniel's experience: 8+ years in the luxury industry, 7+ years in the authentication industry, 10+ years of business development. Currently, Daniel is overseeing the development of new products of Legit Check By Ch.
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