I transferred money to scammers myself: will the bank refund it?: what to do under Georgian law

What to do

1. Act urgently: contact your bank and ask it to contact the recipient’s bank, and file a police report. Taking property by deception is fraud (Criminal Code of Georgia, Art. 180).
2. The key question is who pressed “confirm”. If the client did it himself, the operation is authorised where the payer consented, meaning a transfer confirmed by the client, even if he was deceived (Law on Payment Services, Art. 22). A payment order accepted by the bank cannot be revoked by the client (Art. 29).
3. If the payment was made by the fraudster, with the client only disclosing a code or giving remote access: disclosing a code is not consent to the operation, and without the payer’s consent the operation is unauthorised (Law on Payment Services, Art. 22). The bank must prove authentication (Art. 32). A record of the code’s use does not by itself prove consent or gross negligence (Art. 32). The bank must refund an unauthorised operation no later than the end of the next business day (Art. 33). It may refuse only on a reasonable suspicion of fraud, intent, or gross negligence by the client (Art. 33). The client must notify without delay, and no later than 13 months after the debit (Art. 32).
4. Complaint: a complaint to the bank must receive a reply within 15 business days (Law on Payment Services, Art. 41¹). Then comes the Dispute Resolution Commission of the National Bank of Georgia, no later than 6 months from the complaint to the bank (Art. 41¹). The law gives no right to a refund simply because one was deceived.
5. The main route to the money is the recipient, who is often a “drop” account holder. Bring a claim against the recipient for return of what was received without legal basis (unjust enrichment) (Civil Code of Georgia, Art. 976), or for compensation of harm caused by an intentional unlawful act (Art. 992). The limitation period is three years from when the harm became known (Art. 1008). To secure the claim, seek freezing of the recipient’s account (Civil Procedure Code of Georgia, Art. 191). The recipient’s details can be obtained from your statement, or from the bank on request by investigators.
6. Where to apply: your bank; the police or prosecutor; the Dispute Resolution Commission of the National Bank of Georgia; the court.
7. Evidence: transfer receipt showing the recipient’s details; screenshots of messages and calls; police report number; time of contact with the bank.
8. Traps: calling an authorised transfer an “unauthorised debit”, since the bank will reject that if the client confirmed it; waiting for the bank’s reply instead of reporting to the police immediately and seeking measures against the recipient’s account; “refund” services run by intermediaries who promise to return money for a fee are secondary fraud.

Be sure to check

• a transfer confirmed by the client himself is an authorised operation; the payment order cannot be revoked; the refund regime for unauthorised operations does not apply
• if a fraudster made the payment without consent: refund by the bank, burden of proof on the bank, exception for gross negligence
• urgent steps: the bank and the police; complaint to the bank, then the Dispute Resolution Commission of the National Bank of Georgia
• claim against the recipient (unjust enrichment or tort) with freezing of his account