The advance is a debt if the goods never come — do not keep paying ‘to stay in the queue’.
Foreign buyers often wire deposits to a PRC supplier. If production never happens, the claim is usually return of the advance and damages under the contract/Civil Code, not a criminal case by default. Stop further wires. Capture the contract, SWIFT, WeChat promises, and the USCC on the chop (trading company vs factory). Preserve the account that received the SWIFT. Quality disputes are a different set-off story. Supplier-fraud is the related pages when the facts look like a sting. Collection guides stay the long playbooks.
4 questions before you choose the route.
This page identifies the right question and evidence. It does not determine the legal outcome on a reader’s facts.
Stop further payments?
Almost always.
StopWho received the SWIFT?
USCC vs a personal card.
WhoFreeze that account?
Preservation.
FreezeContract vs fraud facts?
Civil vs the fraud related pages.
LabelWorking rule: Map the regulated role before marketing or launch in China.
The signal ledger.
These facts move the question beyond a label and into a product, money-flow and control analysis.
Bring a compact evidence docket—not a pitch deck.
Give a compliance team or counsel the operating facts that reveal the perimeter.
Questions people ask before they build.
Short answers for orientation. The right result can change with the service model and current rules.
Can I chargeback a T/T?
Telegraphic transfers are not credit-card chargebacks. Recovery is legal.
Is this fraud?
Only with deceit facts. Open /supplier-fraud-in-china if the company was a shell from day one.
Primary authorities
Reviewed sources support orientation, not a fact-specific assessment.