Bank transfer scam victims to get more support after fraudsters steal £236m last year
Changes include proposing to allow the victims to refer complaints to the Financial Ombudsman Service
VICTIMS of bank transfer fraud could get more help claiming their money back under plans unveiled by the Financial Conduct Authority today.
Almost 45,000 people lost £236MILLION last year to "push payment" fraud, according to data from UK Finance.
This is where scammers trick victims into transferring money, also known as bank transfer fraud.
The changes include to allow the victims to refer complaints to the Financial Ombudsman Service if they are unsatisfied with the help they receive - or if they don't get a response from their banks.
The watchdog also plans to require banks to report data on the complaints about alleged fraud that they receive.
It says the data will be used as an indicator of progress on tackling the scam.
Currently, where the victim's bank is not at fault they cannot complain directly to them.
Fraud victim Matthew Bell slammed Lloyds Bank after having £7,000 stolen from his account but the bank refused to repay him.
The 40-year-old denies he made the withdrawals from a branch in Worcester in 2015 and was unable to get his cash back.
Christopher Woolard, from the FCA , said: “The FCA takes push payment fraud and the harm it causes to consumers very seriously.
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"Our proposals build on our work in this area, and seek to reduce the harm experienced by victims of push payment fraud where they believe the bank who received the money did not do enough to prevent it.''
"We are proposing to require payment service providers to handle complaints about this in line with our complaint handling rules, and to provide the victims with access to the Financial Ombudsman Service.''
Top tips to protect yourself from scams
HERE are some tips to help you avoid becoming a victim to scammers:
- NEVER give out personal or financial information on the phone or by email.
- Your bank, the police or any other organisation will never ask you for these in full.
- Never allow someone remote access to your computer following a cold call.
- Don’t rely on caller ID – numbers can be spoofed by fraudsters to make it look like they’re calling from a trusted number
- Your bank, the police or any other company, will never call to ask you to transfer your money out of your account for security reasons
- Be wary of all cold calls claiming to be from banks, police, or other trusted organisations – if you have any concerns, call back on an independently verified number.
Fraudsters tricked victims into transferring nearly £250million from bank accounts last year – here’s how to protect yourself.
Which? research shows that 80 per cent of people think that banks should be responsible for recouping money lost to bank transfer scams.
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