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Bank Negligence Compensation

Santander Bank Transfer Scam Compensation:
Claim Refunds for Authorised
Push Payment (APP) Fraud

Quick guide

  • Increasingly, banks in the UK have been found to have failed in their responsibilities to safeguard customers from scams, resulting in significant financial losses.
  • TLW Solicitors’ experienced team may be able to help you apply for and secure financial reimbursement if you have lost money due to your bank’s failure to protect you.
  • We operate on a no-win, no-fee basis, so if your claim is unsuccessful, you will not owe us a penny.

Find out more

You can view Ms Doherty’s story and watch the full-length version of the video on our case study blog post.

Have you lost money to a Santander bank transfer scam?

You may be eligible for compensation if Santander bank failed in its duty to safeguard you, get in touch for a no-obligation conversation.

Regrettably, we cannot assist if you transferred
your money to the scam before July 2019.

Santander bank transfer and APP scams

Bank transfer fraud, known more specifically as Authorised Push Payment (APP) fraud is an increasingly common and often sophisticated form of cybercrime resulting in unsuspecting victims losing significant amounts of money to fraudsters.

APP fraud relies on an intricate web of lies, including impersonation, interception, and manipulation, designed to convince victims to willingly transfer funds from their own bank accounts to an account in the hands of the scammer.

The deception may include the scammer:

  • Impersonating the victim’s bank, financial institution, or even family and friends.
  • Pretending to be an adviser with an exciting investment opportunity.
  • Intercepting the communications between the victim and their solicitors’ firm or estate agent.

The scammer’s aim is to convince the victim that the reason for the bank transfer is legitimate, and to in turn willingly ‘authorise’ the payments with the bank. Once the money has reached the hands of the scammer it is swiftly moved on, often overseas, proving almost impossible to track down.

In some particularly complicated APP scams, the victim is also coached to transfer money to a second account, known as ‘two-step bank fraud’, in order to make the funds even harder to recover.

Start Your Compensation Claim Online

or call us on 0800 169 5925

There are a number of different types of bank transfer scams that victims have fallen prey to, each with their own hallmarks and red flags.

These include:

  • Cryptocurrency scams – fraudsters promise financial ‘quick wins’ to persuade would-be investors to transfer money to build bogus cryptocurrency portfolios.
  • Impersonation scams – where a scammer contacts the victim claiming to be from a trusted institution (such as a bank or solicitor) or uses number spoofing to contact the victim pretending to be their family member or friend (this is sometimes known as ‘mum and dad scams’).
  • Investment scams – in which the scammer contacts the victim with an ‘exciting investment opportunity’ (often low risk, high reward) which does not in fact exist.
  • Romance scams – after the scammer approaches the victim online usually through dating apps or direct messaging on social media, as a potential romantic partner, then asks for money for things such as medical emergencies, flights, or gifts which never materialise.

Each type of APP scam involves the victim believing that the reason for the payment is legitimate and willingly transferring the funds out of their own bank account.

Banks in the UK, including Santander, have a responsibility to their consumers to have in place systems and processes to detect, prevent, and stop financial crimes such as money laundering and also Authorised Push Payment fraud.

These processes and systems can include:

  • Monitoring customers’ accounts to detect suspicious activity and prevent fraudulent accounts from being set up.
  • Identifying and halting unusual transactions, particularly online, involving customers most vulnerable to fraud, such as the elderly, financially naïve or recently bereaved.
  • Using their industry knowledge and security expertise to be aware of common scam tactics and checking for red flags.
  • Providing warnings to customers throughout the transaction process to make them aware of common scam tactics.

If you think you have been targeted by an APP scam relating to your Santander bank account, the first thing you should do is report this to the bank, the police, and Action Fraud, the UK’s national reporting centre for fraud and cybercrime.

Santander will investigate the report and, in some cases, refunds will be made; however, if you are refused a refund and believe that Santander should have acted to prevent the fraud, you can take the claim to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) an independent Government-backed body responsible for resolving disputes between financial services providers and their customers.

Increasingly, FOS investigations have found that UK banks, including Santander, have sometimes failed in their responsibilities to consumers when it comes to preventing scams, and have awarded significant financial refunds of losses.

When making an APP fraud refund claim, it is important to seek legal advice from an experienced solicitor who can help you understand your rights and options when it comes to seeking compensation from Santander.

Our experienced, specialist APP fraud team can help you. We understand the processes involved and the time limits to be followed. We have robust case management systems, meaning that we continually progress your case and keep you fully up to date.

It is important to act quickly when making a claim, as there are time limits in place for filing complaints with banks, so get in touch today.

The specialist fraud team at TLW Solicitors are helping many clients recover refunds on a no-win, no-fee basis. If you have a claim, we will deal with your claim from start to finish, whilst keeping you up to date as the case progresses.

The steps in the claims process are:

  1. Submit your claim with us by completing either the online claim form, request a callback, telephone our office, or email us using the contact details provided.
  2. A member of the fraud team will discuss your claim with you and advise whether you may have a claim that we can deal with.  If we can assist you, we will send you our welcome pack which contains useful information on what to expect throughout your claim as well as details of what information we’ll need from you.
  3. You will be assigned a case handler. If following an initial assessment of your case we think you have a claim, we will be in touch to go through the next steps. If we don’t think you have a claim, we will provide our reasons why so that you may consider other options.
  4. Your case handler will ask for and review any additional documentation needed to progress your claim, this will include contacting the banks involved on your behalf. You will be kept up to date by email and phone calls if required.
  5. Depending on the circumstances of your case and due to a wide range of factors outside of our control, making a refund claim can take several months to complete – as your case progresses, we will try to give you as much information as possible about the likely timescales. We will continue to update you on your claim, and you will be able to contact your dedicated case handler if there are any issues or concerns.
  6. We work on a ‘no win, no fee’ basis, which means that if your claim is unsuccessful, there will be no charge for the work we do.

Members of TLW Solicitors’ APP Fraud team recently featured in a BBC One series, ‘Northern Justice’ and the BBC consumer programme ‘Morning Live’. Episodes from the Northern Justice show how members of the TLW Solicitors team helped scam victims recover substantial compensation.

Full details about the BBC series and how TLW successfully supported our clients can be found here.

We work on a ‘no-win, no-fee’ basis meaning that, if your Santander refund case is unsuccessful, we will not charge for the time we have spent.

If you have been conned into making payments to fraudsters via your Santander banking, please get in touch for a confidential, no-obligation discussion.

It is important to get advice as soon as possible as strict time limits can apply.

Minimum case values apply.

Meet Our Team

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.

TLW Solicitors pledge to:

  • Always fight your corner.
  • Explain anything you don't understand.
  • Provide full transparency on our charges.
  • Never ask for any upfront payment.
  • Recover the best compensation we can.
  • Keep your personal information safe.
  • Respond quickly to any queries.