Unfortunately, a debit card does not  offer ANY protection against scams. Even though it's a "card," don't think "credit card"--think check or  ATM withdrawal. When you use a debit card, rather than the money be loaned on your behalf by the credit card company, the money is drawn directly from your bank account. So just like if your friend took $399 out of an ATM and handed it to this other company, your friend has no way to get the money back if they take it without providing what they agreed to--or rather no way to get it back other than suing the company and winning. And, of course, if the company is not local, then suing them can be very difficult, and the cost of suing them could easily exceed what your friend could recover even if he won, unfortunately.