Press release
Fraud victims lose £28K to bank transfer scams every hour, Which? reveals
6 min read
Rocio Concha, Which? Director of Policy and Advocacy, said: "Despite huge sums being lost to bank transfer scams on an hourly basis, low reimbursement rates based on inconsistent and unfair decisions by banks demonstrate how the voluntary code isn't providing the safeguards promised to victims. "While commitments to make reimbursement mandatory were a huge win for consumers, it's vital that the government introduces the right legislation that will ensure victims get fair and consistent treatment. "The regulator must also ensure it is ready to introduce and enforce mandatory reimbursement rules the moment that this legislation is passed."
ENDS Case study
John Andrews, in his 80s, was the victim of a sophisticated impersonation scam, losing thousands of pounds after fraudsters posing as his son on WhatsApp manipulated him into transferring money. John was asked by the scammer purporting to be his son if he could transfer money to an account to pay for a £3,600 bill due to issues his son was having setting up an online payment. The HSBC account he was asked to transfer the money to was not in his son's name, but he thought it might be a friend who he owed money to, so he went ahead. When John talked to his son shortly after, he said he had sent no such message After several weeks spent investigating, his bank Santander refused to refund him. But Which? believed that John had a reasonable basis to think he was talking to his son and Santander should have taken the customer's vulnerability into account, including his age. After Which? helped the victim write a complaint to Santander, the bank decided to refund him in full.
Right of replies
A Santander spokesperson said: "We have a great deal of sympathy for Mr Andrews and all who fall victim to the criminals who carry out these scams. Having reviewed the individual circumstances of Mr Andrews' case, we have fully refunded the money transferred as part of the scam."
Tips for avoiding a WhatsApp scam
- If you've been contacted by someone you know on WhatsApp, but on a new number, and asked to make a payment - stop, this is a scam.
- Speak to the person you believe is requesting the money before making any payments, either face to face, or by calling on their old number - do not use WhatsApp to complete the call.
- Remember: if something doesn't feel right, it probably isn't.
Notes to editors:
- Losses from APP scams are calculated from the UK Finance 2021 , and include only personal losses
- Between July 2019 and June 2021, there were 306,573 cases of personal APP fraud recorded by UK Finance, representing losses of £854 million. Of these losses £360m was returned to the customer, leaving £495m of non-reimbursed losses. The Contingent Reimbursement Model code was introduced around one month before this period on 28 May 2019
- The Office for National Statistics' estimated median annual earnings for a UK employee in 2021 were £25,971. This includes both full-time and part-time employees
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