Pay a Chinese seller with crypto or gift cards?
Avoid gift-card codes and pause any request for cryptocurrency. Recorded blockchain transfers are irreversible, and voucher payments can be difficult to recover. Check who receives payment and whether protection covers your business goods order, not just buying crypto or vouchers. Discuss the proposed payment with Cambridge China Bridge.
Treat an unusual payment request as a stop point
Do not buy gift cards or send cryptocurrency because a seller claims its usual payment account is unavailable. Ask for a revised invoice naming the seller, the recipient and the payment route. Confirm the request through contact details you already trust. Refusal to explain the arrangement is a reason to hold the order.
Our supplier payment guide covers staged payments and account checks. For this request, add a separate check: who can intervene if the payment goes wrong, and what evidence would they need?
Separate reversal from a promised refund
The government's cryptoasset guidance explains that recorded blockchain transactions are irreversible. Do not treat a seller's promise to refund as an ability to undo the transfer. Before considering payment, ask the provider whether a pending transaction can be stopped and what assistance remains available after completion.
HMRC has documented scammers selling gift-card codes or using them to buy products. Government recovery guidance says voucher payments to fraudsters are very difficult to trace and recover. Keep codes and card photographs private. A purchase receipt should not be treated as assurance that the value can be recovered after sharing the code.
Check protection for the actual goods order
Ask your card issuer or payment provider in writing: does protection cover this business purchase, this seller, this product and this payment route? If you buy cryptocurrency or vouchers first, ask whether any claim would concern that purchase or the subsequent factory order. Describe the complete payment chain.
Ask about non-delivery, defective goods, exclusions, claim deadlines and required evidence. Do not rely on a protection logo or the seller's explanation. Read our card chargeback guide for card-paid orders and platform buying guide before agreeing to pay outside a platform.
Build a payment file before authorising funds
Keep the quotation, invoice, specification, seller identity, payment instructions and provider's written response together. For a proposed crypto payment, request the asset, network, wallet address and evidence linking the recipient to the invoicing seller. A wallet address alone should not satisfy your identity check.
Record who approves payment and what must happen before the balance is released. Use our checks before paying the balance for the goods and documents. If the recipient or recovery route remains unexplained, choose another payment arrangement or hold the purchase.
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If payment has already been sent
Stop further payments. Contact your bank or payment provider promptly through a trusted channel. Also contact the crypto exchange or gift-card issuer and ask whether any remaining funds can be stopped or preserved. Save messages, receipts, wallet addresses, transaction references and the order documents. Record each provider's response.
Report suspected fraud to Report Fraud; in Scotland, report it to Police Scotland. GOV.UK specifically directs online scam victims in England and Wales to Report Fraud. Pursue payment recovery with the provider alongside reporting, and assess any demand for a further release or recovery payment independently before sending more money.
Frequently asked questions
Should I send gift-card codes to a Chinese supplier?
Avoid it. Keep codes private and ask for an invoiced payment route with an identifiable recipient. Voucher payments to fraudsters are very difficult to trace and recover.
Can I reverse a cryptocurrency payment?
Recorded blockchain transactions are irreversible. Ask the provider immediately whether a pending payment can be stopped or any funds preserved. A seller's refund promise does not undo the transfer.
Does buying crypto with a credit card protect my order?
Do not assume it does. Describe the complete payment chain to your issuer and ask whether protection covers the factory goods order or only the crypto purchase, including business-use exclusions.
Where do I report a suspected supplier payment scam?
Report suspected fraud to Report Fraud, or Police Scotland if you are in Scotland. Contact your bank or payment provider promptly as well, and preserve the order and payment evidence.