How to dispute a visa-site card charge

Before you call

• Save the receipt, confirmation email, advertisement, web address and screenshots.
• Write down what the site promised and what it actually supplied.
• Check the official immigration portal to see whether a real application exists.
• Ask the seller for a refund in writing if doing so will not expose more personal information.

Find the company that issued the card

For a Visa or Mastercard, contact the bank or other company that issued the card. The CFPB says the name on the front may not be the actual issuer and tells cardholders to look on the back or latest statement ¹.

For an American Express card, use the issuer contact printed on the card or statement. Do not use a phone number supplied by the visa-site seller.

Describe the problem accurately

Say whether you authorised the payment, whether the price or government affiliation was misrepresented, and whether the promised service was delivered. A payment you approved is different from an unauthorised transaction.

The CFPB says to contact the seller first about a product or service problem, then ask the credit card company whether the charge can be disputed. It notes that a reversal is sometimes called a chargeback ².

United Kingdom claims

The Financial Conduct Authority says a person who paid by card for something not received may be able to recover the money by contacting the card provider. It identifies this process as the chargeback scheme ³.

The FCA says a UK credit-card purchase costing more than £100 and less than £30,000 may qualify for a separate Section 75 claim. Different conditions apply, so ask the provider which route fits the payment ³.

Extra rule for US credit cards

The CFPB says to call the issuer immediately and send a written billing-error notice within 60 days after the charge appeared on the statement. Send it to the billing-inquiries address, not the payment address ⁴.

The issuer has 30 days to acknowledge a qualifying written complaint and two billing cycles, up to 90 days, to investigate ⁴.

If passport or identity data was exposed

A payment dispute does not protect the personal data you entered. Change reused passwords, watch your accounts and follow the identity-theft instructions for your country. In the United States, the FTC directs identity-theft victims to IdentityTheft.gov ⁵.