Restoring a Doctor to Financial Health

Case Study: Restoring a Doctor to FInancial Health

This case involved the following MyChargeBack service: preparation of a chargeback request and a cryptocurrency blockchain analysis.

The Basis for the Dispute

F.Q. is a medical doctor and professor of medicine in his native Ireland. He unfortunately got involved with an unregulated online investment broker that misrepresented its ability to offer genuine investment services. Instead, the brokerage merely extracted as many deposits from its investors as possible in order to pocket them, while ostensibly engaging in trading.

It is a common misconception that only uninformed or poorly educated people get caught up in this sort of oppressive situation. But F.Q. is neither uninformed nor poorly educated, and yet that’s exactly the situation he found himself in. Within just a few days, he had deposited €5,000 from his credit card as well as ₿1.15 (bitcoin). The credit card payments were made directly to the merchant, while the bitcoin was passed (perhaps laundered) through Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange.

To F.Q.’s credit, he quickly realized what was happening and attempted to withdraw his money. It came as no surprise to us when he later told us he was unsuccessful. Once he did contact us for help, we listened attentively, even though it was a story we had heard innumerable times before.

Strategies and Tactics

Before directly engaging in fund recovery activities, we needed to consult with our new client regarding what services exactly he wanted from us. In the end he determined that we would perform two separate services for F.Q.:

  1. We would prepare and generate a chargeback request for submission to his bank to address his credit card payment dispute. Based on over five years of experience in developing and maintaining best practices for complex dispute resolution, as detailed below for the case of F.Q., our assistance provides cardholders the benefit of having professionals on their side, just as the merchants do, in these incredibly challenging circumstances.
  2. We would create for F.Q. a personalized Crypto Intelligence Report that is composed of several parts. First of all, it contains a forensic trace of his bitcoin from the moment it left his digital wallet until it was cashed out by its ultimate recipient. In addition, the report details the steps and recommended procedures that the client subsequently has to undertake in order to recover the money.

In order to achieve the first task, recovering the credit card transactions via a chargeback, we began by compiling evidence. Part of the evidence was supplied by our client under our guidance and oversight. This included evidence such as bank statements, merchant communications, and screenshots of his online broker account. We also conducted our own research to find conclusive evidence of the brokerage’s unethical business practices, as well as a number of countries’ financial regulator warnings about its conduct.

Once having all the evidence in our possession, it was time to compile it into a single document that was as concise and simple as possible without leaving out anything critical. MyChargeBack has learned that the best practice with issuing banks is “say as little as possible to get your point across, but no less.” Burying your banker with information is an excellent way to get your case dismissed. So is failing to include critical data. Having interacted with dispute departments at hundreds of banks around the world, MyChargeBack consistently knows how to find that sweet spot.

The next step was to coach our client in filing the document we produced for him, and to make a formal chargeback request. After the bank was in receipt of the request, it did not immediately raise the dispute. Instead, it came back with a number of clarifying questions about the transactions and F.Q.’s background. He immediately informed us, and we carefully coached him regarding how to best respond to all of them.

Knowing how to communicate with a bank effectively is not something that comes naturally. A misplaced word or a misstated fact is all it takes to ruin a recovery case, not to mention a healthy working relationship. MyChargeBack, besides knowing the rules, has also developed a playbook of specific best practices for hundreds of specific banks across the world. Naturally, most  individual cardholders would feel intimidated to communicate with their banks under these circumstances, but we gave F.Q. the confidence to do so.

With us guiding the process, it was no surprise that our client’s bank agreed to raise the chargeback, and then proceeded to inform the merchant and the merchant’s bank. Given the strength of the case that we had prepared, there was no challenge from the other side, and within a couple months, F.Q. was pleased to learn that he had received a full refund of all of his credit card transactions.

The next task was to prepare our client’s Crypto Intelligence Report. We successfully traced the entire money trail, and were able to plot its course visually. Every single step that our client’s bitcoin took was brought to the light of day, with wallet and transaction IDs for each one. This forensic investigation is based on our own specialized skills and proprietary databases, together with state-of-the-art technologies, and is an invaluable tool for people looking for lost crypto.

Also included in the report was a step-by-step procedure for how to apply legal pressure through law enforcement authorities and the courts, if need be, to force the recipient of our client’s bitcoin to return his illegally appropriated digital assets. Our report was custom produced for F.Q. based on his specific circumstances, and enhanced by our extensive experience and research.

The MyChargeBack Difference

There were many factors that entered into the equation that explains why F.Q. was able to successfully recover all of his credit card transactions. But ultimately, they all combine to illustrate that MyChargeBack knows what to do and how to do it. Chief among those skills was the ability to communicate with a bank that was initially reluctant to act. Without our experience and guidance at every step along the way, each of the hurdles that would have led others to failure or to give up in mid-course were merely expected challenges for us. 

F.Q. is also well on his way to recovering his bitcoin because of the advanced tools and technology that MyChargeBack alone employs. We have been working hard to stay ahead of the curve in terms of software and procedures to give our clients the best possible shot at making cryptocurrency recovery a reality.

For more information about MyChargeBack’s chargeback services, click here.

For more information about MyChargeBack’s Crypto Report services, click here.

At a Glance: MyChargeBack in Ireland

  • The case involved the loss of over €5,000, as well as ₿1.15 to an unregulated online investment platform.
  • Our efforts resulted in the complete refund of all credit card transactions.
  • In addition, at our client’s request we performed a forensic blockchain trace on the bitcoin transactions and provided our client with a detailed report along with a recovery plan.

Payment made by the bank

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