NatWest revealed as worst bank for scam claims as 70% of valid complaints to banks rejected
NATWEST is the worst bank for dealing with scam claims, while lenders are continuing to wrongly reject up to 70% of fraud complaints.
The damning figures have been revealed as part of research shared exclusively with The Sun by complaints body the Financial Ombudsman Service.
It found NatWest is the worst for dealing with scam complaints, with the Ombudsman overturning 69% of its decisions in the year to May 28, 2019.
The Sun has previously spoken to gardener David Hunt who lost nearly £10,000 when scammers pretended to be from HMRC – and his bank NatWest refused to payout.
Meanwhile, grandmother Jo Wilson, had her £40,000 life savings stolen by scammers posing as staff from NatWest, which also wouldn’t give her a refund.
RBS, which is part of the NatWest Banking Group, is the next worst offender, also wrongly rejecting 69% of complaints adjudicated on by the Ombudsman over the same period.
How to protect yourself from scams
BY keeping these tips in mind, you can avoid getting caught up in a scam:
- Firstly, remember that if something seems too good to be true, it normally is.
- Check brands are “verified” on Facebook and Twitter pages – this means the company will have a blue tick on its profile.
- Look for grammatical and spelling errors; fraudsters are notoriously bad at writing proper English. If you receive a message from a “friend” informing you of a freebie, consider whether it’s written in your friend’s normal style.
- If you’re invited to click on a URL, hover over the link to see the address it will take you to – does it look genuine?
- To be on the really safe side, don’t click on unsolicited links in messages, even if they appear to come from a trusted contact.
- Be careful when opening email attachments too. Fraudsters are increasingly attaching files, usually PDFs or spreadsheets, which contain dangerous malware.
- If you receive a suspicious message then report it to the company, block the sender and delete it.
- If you think you’ve fallen for a scam, report it to Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or use its .
Santander takes third place, with six in ten fraud complaints overturned (63%).
Meanwhile, HSBC, Nationwide, Barclays, and TSB each had more than half of scam complaints upheld against them in consumers’ favours.
The data looks at complaints where decisions were made by the Ombudsman in the year before and after a code of practice came into force to better deal with bank transfer scams.
Of course, as victims have up to six months from being rejected by their bank to bring claims it could be complaints from before the code took force were adjudicated on after it came into affect – the Ombudsman says it can’t break down complaints data into this level of detail.
The NatWest Group, for example, points out that it was clearing a backlog of older complaints during this period.
Other types of fraud are also covered by the Ombudsman’s data, including chip and PIN disputes, cash not dispensed from ATMs, and ID thefts.
Overall, the uphold rate on complaints about the ten banks with the most fraud complaints fell from 72% in the year immediately before the code to 52% the year after it took effect.
But trade body UK Finance agrees more needs to be done to help reimburse victims of fraud.
£456million lost to bank transfer fraud
The Authorised Push Payment (APP) code, came into force on May 28, 2019 and promises members will reimburse victims of this particular type of bank transfer scam.
But not all banks have signed up to it; Monzo, for example, isn’t a member while TSB instead created its own promise to refund fraud victims.
UK Finance says £456million was lost to APP fraud in 2019 with victims getting £41million back over the same period.
What to do if you think you’ve been scammed
IF you’ve lost money in a scam, contact Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or by visiting Actionfraud.police.uk.
You should also contact your bank or credit card provider immediatley to see if they can stop or trace the cash.
If you don’t think your bank has managed your complaint correctly, or if you’re unhappy with the verdict it gives on your case you can complain to the free .
Also monitor your credit report in the months following the fraud to ensure crooks don’t make further attempts to steal your cash.
The trade body adds that banks prevented more than £1.8billion of unauthorised fraud last year.
Katy Worobec, managing director of economic crime at UK Finance, said: “The Authorised Push Payments Scams Code has established stronger customer protection standards and more than doubled the proportion of losses being refunded.”
But she added: “We agree that a voluntary agreement alone is not enough, and new legislation is required to address issues of liability and reimbursement.”
A NatWest Group spokesperson said: “We are a founding member of the reimbursement code and always do everything we can to help our customers get their money back.
“As criminal techniques evolve so does our refund policy and we continue to reflect and act upon areas we can do better.”
It adds that it has 1,000 staff dedicated to tackling fraud.
A Santander spokesperson said: “We’re committed to working with the industry, regulators and Ombudsman in the fight against fraud, as well as using our own channels and campaigns to educate customers on the dangers of fraud and scams.”