Instagram has quietly become a marketplace — and a scam vector. Influencers and small accounts sell pre-loved goods, drop-shipped products and “exclusive releases” via DM, often with bank-transfer-only payment. When the goods don’t arrive and you’re blocked, what then?
The legal context
If the seller has any Australian footprint — a registered business, an ABN, a public real name, an Australian bank account — you have the standard armoury: contract, the Australian Consumer Law, and common-law deceit. Many Instagram sellers operate as undeclared businesses; that doesn’t shield them from the ACL where they sell repeatedly.
Report the account to Meta for takedown, file with Scamwatch, and lodge a ReportCyber complaint.
Realistic outcomes
Burner accounts run from overseas with mule bank accounts are effectively untouchable. But many Instagram sellers are real Australians using their real first names, real bank details and real shipping addresses — recoverable. A Letter of Demand to a real person, signalling tribunal action and credit-file consequences, frequently produces a refund where DMs and bad reviews don’t.
The document approach
Attach the DMs, the listing screenshots, the payment evidence. Set out the contract or the ACL guarantee breached, and demand a refund within 14 days. Note the parallel platform report.
What Claim Done delivers ($79)
For a flat $79 our AI drafts a tribunal-grade Letter of Demand in your name, with the right legal grounding, ready to send by email and registered post.
What to expect after
Send the letter. Continue the platform report and bank recall. If the deadline passes, lodge a small-claims application — VCAT, NCAT, QCAT or your local Magistrates Court — and your letter becomes part of the evidence file.