Consumer Duty and scams: the FCA rule that could get your money back

A rule called the Consumer Duty could be the reason your bank has to refund you after a scam. It has been in place since 2023, and in 2026 the Financial Ombudsman Service is citing it when deciding that banks should have done more to protect their customers.

First, the important bit. If a scammer has tricked you out of money, the blame sits with the criminal who did it. Scammers lie, pressure and manipulate people every day. Falling for one does not make you foolish.

But even when the money has gone to the criminal, you are not always on your own. Thanks in part to the Consumer Duty, you may be able to claim some of your money back from your bank. This blog explains what the Consumer Duty is, when a bank can be at fault, and what real ombudsman decisions in 2026 have found.

Why your bank might owe you money

Getting money back from the scammer is very hard. Criminals move stolen funds quickly and hide behind fake names. But your bank is a different matter.

Your bank is not as much to blame as the criminal. In some cases, though, it can still be partly in the wrong. That is because banks have a duty to look out for their customers and to help protect them from scams. If your bank missed clear warning signs and did nothing, it may have to refund part of your loss.

Many of these scams are what the industry calls authorised push payment fraud, or APP fraud. This is where the scammer does not steal money from your account. Instead they trick you into sending it yourself, because you think you are paying for a holiday, an investment or some goods, or moving it somewhere safe. Banks often say they could not stop the payment because you agreed to make it. That is only part of the picture.

What Consumer Duty changed

A rule called the Consumer Duty came into force in July 2023. It is set by the Financial Conduct Authority, the regulator for financial services in the UK.

In plain terms, the Consumer Duty says financial firms like banks must act to deliver good outcomes for their customers, and must avoid causing foreseeable harm. Becoming the victim of a scam is exactly the kind of harm the regulator had in mind. The FCA even gave scams as an example, pointing to firms with “inadequate systems to detect/prevent scams”.

This does not mean a bank has to stop every payment. Banks have to strike a balance. They should not block you from spending your own money on things you genuinely want. But they should have strong systems to spot the signs of a likely scam. Banks have seen these scams for years, so they know the warning signs far better than the average customer does.

What the ombudsman has said in 2026

If your bank turns down your refund, you can take your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service. It is free to use. In 2026 the ombudsman has repeatedly pointed to a bank’s duty to protect its customers. Here are three real examples.

An investment scam, and a bank that should have asked more

A man we will call Mr N answered a social media advert and was drawn into a fake crypto investment. He was promised he could make up to £50,000 in two weeks. He sent £12,300 before he realised he could not get his money out.

Santander said the payments were normal for his account. The ombudsman disagreed. One payment was double his usual size and pushed his spending to a level the bank should have questioned. The ombudsman set out the core principle plainly:

“a bank should be on the look-out for and protect its customers against the risk of fraud and scams so far as is reasonably possible. If it fails to act on information which ought reasonably to alert a prudent banker to potential fraud or financial crime, it might be liable for losses incurred by its customer as a result.”

The bank was told to refund 50% of that payment, plus interest.

An impersonation scam aimed at a student

A man we will call Mr S was an international student. He got an automated call claiming his National Insurance number was linked to money laundering. A fake police officer, using a spoofed phone number, frightened him into buying £3,600 of gift cards and sharing the codes. He was “shaking, crying, and panicking” during the call.

The ombudsman found that seventeen payments in two hours was a clear red flag Monzo should have acted on. The reasoning was direct:

“If a bank doesn’t question payments that might be at risk, then it can’t fulfil its duty to protect customers.”

Monzo was told to refund 50% of the payments made after the point it should have stepped in.

A flight scam the bank half spotted

A woman we will call Mrs K tried to pay for flights through someone she thought was a travel agent. Santander’s system flagged the payment as suspected fraud and rang her. But the agent only checked she had made the payment herself. They did not ask who she was paying or how she knew the company.

The ombudsman found the call was not good enough. Had the agent asked a few probing questions, the scam would likely have unravelled. Santander was told to refund 50% of the loss.

A pattern worth knowing

In these examples, the ombudsman split liability 50/50, so the bank refunded half the loss. That can happen, but outcomes vary. The ombudsman looks at what the bank should have done, and also at whether the customer could have spotted the warning signs. Every case is judged on its own facts. A refund is never guaranteed.

What to do if you have been scammed

If you think you have lost money to a scam, tell your bank straight away and report it to Report Fraud, the national reporting service that replaced Action Fraud. You can report online at reportfraud.police.uk or by calling 0300 123 2040. If your bank rejects your complaint, you have the right to take it to the Financial Ombudsman Service for free, without paying anyone.

You can do all of this yourself, and it is free to complain to your bank and to use the ombudsman. If you would like a hand, we can help. At Allegiant we look at whether your bank should have done more to protect you and help you build a claim. You can get started on our website.

Scammers cause real harm. But the law and the regulator are increasingly clear that banks must play their part in protecting you. If yours did not, you may be owed money back.

Sources

The Financial Ombudsman Service decisions referred to in this article are:

• Financial Ombudsman Service, Decision reference DRN-6169713, Mr N v Santander UK Plc, 2026.
• Financial Ombudsman Service, Decision reference DRN-6294610, Mr S v Monzo Bank Ltd, 2026.
• Financial Ombudsman Service, Decision reference DRN-6368555, Mrs K v Santander UK Plc, 2026.