Authorised Push Payment (APP) fraud, or bank transfer fraud, is where the scammer gains the victim’s confidence or appears to be someone they trust, such as a lawyer, accountant, friend, family member, romantic connection, or business associate, then uses manipulative techniques and deception to persuade the victim to send sums of money, often on an urgent and/or regular basis, from their bank account.
As the fraud victim believes the transfer is genuine and legitimate, the money is often lost before any alarm bells ring and the victim may be too embarrassed to do anything about it. These payments are usually made abroad, often making it impossible to trace or recover what has been lost.
APP fraud has been made much easier for cybercriminals by the increased use of real-time payment schemes, which means once money has been transferred out of an account, there is no going back once the victim realises they have been defrauded.
It is extremely important to urgently advise the police and also your bank. You can also report any suspected scamming activity to Action Fraud, the National Fraud and Cyber Crime Reporting Centre. If you have lost money, then that may lead to a criminal investigation by the police.
If criminal proceedings are taken and there is a successful conviction, then the Court can award compensation. However, it can sometimes be difficult to trace the fraudster, particularly if they are abroad, or they may no longer have any assets with which to pay any compensation.
Many victims are unaware that the banks from where the payments to the scammer are made, have a duty to apply due diligence when looking after their customers’ accounts. As well as having robust security checks and data protection measures, the banks should have processes in place to highlight and act on any ‘red flags’ such as vulnerable customers, regular and high-value payment transfers, or other unusual or out of character transactions activity.
Where there is a dispute between a bank and a customer who has lost out to a scam, then a complaint can be made to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). FOS will examine the circumstances of the scam and the bank’s response. FOS will take into account that banks will be more familiar with the types of fraud than the customer, so should do what they can to protect them including stopping suspicious transfers, freezing accounts or collaborating with other banks.
There has been a range of recent FOS decisions supporting customers who have been the victims of these scams, with some receiving substantial compensation. Some examples can be found here:
The specialist team at TLW Solicitors has many years’ of experience in successfully dealing with claims against FOS, even where initial complaints have been rejected.
We understand the time limits to be followed, the information needed and the claims and appeals processes. The team will also deal with any complex legal arguments and defences that the bank may raise. The combination of our experienced team and digital case management systems means that we proactively pursue your claim and aim to get the best possible results.
It will cost you nothing to make an enquiry and once our team has reviewed your potential case and if we feel it suitable, then we will enter into a no-win-no-fee agreement. This means, that if the case is unsuccessful, we will not charge for the time we have spent on the case.
If you, your friend or a relative has been conned into making payments to fraudsters by either writing a cheque or via online banking, then please get in touch with our specialist team for a confidential, no-obligation conversation.
You can call us on 0800 169 5925, email info@tlwsolicitors.co.uk or complete the Callback form.
It is important to get advice as soon as possible as strict time limits can apply.
Meet Sarah, who heads up our experienced Authorised Push Payment Fraud Claims team.
Sarah and her colleagues are on hand to help with your claim.
