ChatGPT: Refunds, Complaints & Scams

Check a pre-IPO investment offer after a refused payout with ChatGPT

A 77-year-old retiree in Bengaluru, India, was approached by people posing as representatives of IIFL Wealth Management who promised 'pre-IPO allotments in sizable quantities.' Over several weeks the retiree paid in money for share allotments that showed large paper profits. When a request to release ₹40 lakh was refused, the retiree grew alarmed and started investigating the company's background in ChatGPT, according to the police report. The search showed it was a fraudulent organization with a lot of complaints against it. By then ₹67.10 lakh was already lost, but the check stopped further payments, and a police report was filed on January 3 with the Cyber Crime Police Station under IT Act Sections 66C and 66D.

Spot a jury duty scam targeting your spouse with ChatGPT (partial)

On July 21, men posing as sheriff's deputies told Kimberly Fudge, 38, a Florida finance manager, that Fudge had missed federal jury duty and faced arrest. Fudge spent nearly 10 hours driving and feeding $25,000 into cryptocurrency machines as 'bail'. Following the callers' script, Fudge texted spouse Jonathan for money, and Jonathan sent $3,000. At a second request, Jonathan asked ChatGPT why a spouse would make such a demand. It listed ordinary explanations, then flagged a possible scam, and Jonathan called 911. The money already sent is gone; reports went to the sheriff's offices, the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center and the FTC, but the family is 'not counting on recovery.'

Ask ChatGPT whether an online crypto 'investment' is a scam

Margaret Loke, a 70-something widow in San Jose, met a man called 'Ed' on Facebook who persuaded Loke to 'invest' in crypto through an app that showed big profits. Loke wired money from an IRA, including $120,000 and a final $62,000, and took out a $300,000 second mortgage. When the account was 'frozen' and Ed demanded a million dollars to unfreeze it, Loke asked ChatGPT, which replied: 'no, this is a scam, you better go to police station'. That warning came too late: Loke lost nearly $1 million in a 'pig butchering' scheme, faces a huge tax bill for withdrawing the IRA at once, and could lose the house.

Get a $199 membership refund for slow test results by citing the provider's own agreement with ChatGPT

Gokul N.'s blood test results from Superpower took 20 days. Gokul asked ChatGPT to check the refund policy, look at the dates and email the concierge. The email cited Section 14(a) of the membership agreement, set out the timeline with Superpower's own support replies, asked them to confirm when results had actually been available, and added a fallback asking for an exception if a different policy applied. Two days later Superpower confirmed a full $199 membership refund.

Win a rent tribunal complaint over a move-out repainting bill with ChatGPT structuring the evidence

After moving out of a rental flat in Denmark after one year, Andreas Strandfelt was billed a surprisingly high amount for repainting, despite detailed move-in documentation, a thorough move-out inspection and evidence that an identical neighbouring flat had been painted more for less that month. The landlord wouldn't explain the costs. Strandfelt used ChatGPT to structure a complaint to the local rent tribunal, referencing the email thread, the move-in and move-out reports and the relevant legal paragraphs. The tribunal ruled in their favour, and the landlord had to return more of the deposit. The costs were 300 DKK to file and less than 200 DKK for a month of ChatGPT Plus.

Fight a private parking charge with ChatGPT finding holes in the operator's evidence, then recover £462.15 in costs

Loren Cole, a freelance chef, got a £60 parking charge for overstaying by five minutes at a retail park, despite paying for a three-hour ticket after the payment machines played up. When the operator threatened court, Cole used ChatGPT to scrutinise its letters and evidence: it pointed out claims of non-payment despite a successful card payment, a floor plan sent instead of photos of the signs, and missing detail on entry and exit times against the 10-minute grace period, and it drafted replies. Cole added photos showing the signage didn't match the floor plan, and the operator discontinued the claim. Cole then used ChatGPT to claim litigant-in-person costs at £19 per hour; after a default costs certificate and a ChatGPT-drafted final warning, the operator paid £462.15.

Let ChatGPT handle airline and car-rental disputes from Gmail and recover about €200 so far

The poster connected ChatGPT to Gmail and lets it handle disputes on its own. So far it has got €100 from an airline for a broken stroller and a €108 refund from a car-rental company for a very dirty child seat; the poster puts the total at €200 so far, with a trickier dispute still ongoing.

Spot a fake IRS letter as a scam by checking it with ChatGPT

When a letter claiming to be from the IRS arrived, Sara Wilbur's mother suspected a scam, checked it with ChatGPT and was right. Wilbur, who had encouraged them to trust their instincts, watch for red flags and use ChatGPT, shared it as an example of fraud awareness working.

Lay out what was paid and owed in a vendor billing dispute with ChatGPT (it invented invoice numbers)

A business owner fed ChatGPT all of the payment history, invoices and email threads from a vendor billing misunderstanding and asked it to set out exactly what had been paid and what was still owed. Five seconds before sending the email, they spot-checked a couple of invoice numbers and found the numbers were all made up: they looked real and had the right format, but none existed. They didn't send it.

Get a GoDaddy business email charge refunded with ChatGPT's guidance

A poster charged $83.88 for GoDaddy business email followed ChatGPT's guidance on asking for a refund. The poster says GoDaddy refunded the full amount and moved the account to a $35.88 discounted plan, which they count as a $48 saving.

Fight off a £5,800 landlord claim in court using Grok and ChatGPT

A UK poster says a former landlord tried to sue them for £5,800 in a year-long dispute. They used Grok and ChatGPT for the whole process from start to finish instead of paying a lawyer's quoted £3,000, and say they won and received the court's closure letter. They add that this is not legal advice.

Get out of a $75 parking ticket with a polite ChatGPT-written appeal

A parent asked ChatGPT to write a polite appeal explaining that their children distracted them and they genuinely forgot (which they say was true). They say it got it in one try, they sent it through the appeal form, and woke up to an email saying their $75 balance had been forgiven.

Get an $800 refund for unwanted post-trial streaming charges with a ChatGPT-drafted legal notice

After a video streaming service kept charging them for months once a free trial ended, without sending receipts or payment alerts, an India-based poster says ChatGPT helped them draft a legal notice and they got an $800 refund.

Win a small-claims case against a landlord over a deposit with ChatGPT's help

A tenant says ChatGPT flagged that their landlord's security deposit exceeded legal limits under a 2019 law. When the landlord refused to return the money and filed a retaliatory $5,000 counterclaim, the tenant used ChatGPT to build the case, represented themselves in small claims court and says they won $1,180, with the counterclaim dismissed. The poster adds that AI tools are not substitutes for legal advice.

Write a firm but friendly repair-request letter to a landlord with ChatGPT

Writer Deborah Sosin says their rented apartment's dishwasher broke in December 2024 and stayed broken despite multiple polite requests. With a new lease pending they asked ChatGPT to help write a forceful letter; it framed their priorities as keeping the tenancy, protecting their health, and getting the dishwasher replaced without triggering hostility. In a later update they say they had a cordial in-person talk with the landlady, a brand-new dishwasher was on the premises to be installed, and 'the letter worked.'

Draft a security-deposit demand letter to a silent landlord with ChatGPT

The Economic Times reports that a tenant whose landlord stopped responding after move-out used GPT-4 to draft a formal letter demanding the return of a Rs 35,000 security deposit, after lawyers wouldn't take such a small case. The AI asked for names, address, amount, length of stay, rent and past contact attempts, and wrote a letter citing consumer laws and warning of legal action. The tenant says the landlord paid within a few days, and that they cross-checked the laws themselves after others warned about made-up legal references.