Always film yourself opening high value packages. For the author, it really boils down to circumstantial evidence. A photo of a box not containing the item isn’t proof of anything.
I’d even go further and make sure there’s uninterrupted video evidence showing delivery and opening of the package. Open them on your front porch in view of your doorbell camera.
If you’re a victim of a fraud like this, first make a police report of the theft. Then contact the merchant. If you aren’t given a refund or replacement within the same time period of the original delivery, start the dispute process with your bank. If that fails, take the matter to small claims court against the original merchant. This is where you can take your evidence to someone who is local and who doesn’t work for the merchant. They don’t care about whatever terms of service, procedures of the company and operate under the law.
Most of the time the company won’t even show up and if they do it likely will be one of their juniors from their legal staff.
As long as you have evidence and a police report, you’ll get a judgement in your favor. Once you get the judgement, if still within 90 days of the purchase, send it to your bank to have the chargeback redone.
If not within 90 days, you will need to collect from the merchant themselves. Send a copy of the judgement and a demand letter certified mail to the merchant. You need to check your local laws on how long they have to pay it.
If they don’t pay, you’ll need to go back to the judge in most cases and follow the process of civil seizure. Normally this involves the sheriff or local law enforcement. One of the easiest ways to collect is to show up to a local branch of a bank where the merchant has money and have the bank execute the seize money from their account.
If you can’t find their bank, or they have no money, you can show up with the judgement and law enforcement (call them when you get there or follow the process outlined by the judge, sometimes this involves the local sheriff). You can then seize any property that might be at the location.