Bank Transfer (Authorised Push Payment) Fraud & Scams.

With authorised push payment scams, commonly known as a bank transfer scam, the criminal tricks their victim into sending money directly from their account to an account controlled by the criminal. After the payment has been transferred to the fraudster’s account it is almost impossible to recover from the scammer, as they are able to quickly remove the money and hide it by transferring it and passing it through multiple accounts.

This makes tracking and recovery of the stolen money from the scammer extremely difficult.

Am I able to get my money back from my bank as a result of a bank transfer scam?

When it comes to payments that have been authorised by the customer, the starting point at law is that their bank won’t be liable for the loss, even when it’s the result of a scam.

However in some situations the Financial Ombudsman Service believes, considering relevant rules, codes and best practice standards, that banks shouldn’t have taken their customers’ authorisation instruction at “face value” – or should have looked at the wider circumstances surrounding the transaction before making the payment.

In addition, from 28 May 2019, most of the major banks have agreed to give consumers further protection if they fall victim to an authorised push payment scam by signing up to the Contingency Reimbursement Model (CRM) a code of practice for dealing with victims of authorised push payment fraud.

Even if your case pre-dates the Code or it doesn’t apply, we can help present arguments to get money lost to fraud from your bank.

One of the important questions to consider is whether the payment in question is authorised. In broad terms, “authorised” in this context means that a consumer gave their bank an instruction to make a payment from their account, in line with its terms and conditions. In other words, they knew that money was leaving their account – wherever that money actually went.

Regulations state that if a customer hasn’t authorised a payment, the bank should refund the money – so long as the customer hasn’t acted fraudulently, or with intent or “gross negligence.” “Gross negligence” is a suitably high bar that goes well beyond ordinary carelessness, but this has not stopped 1 in 2 claims being rejected by the banks.

Different types of APP scams include:

• Safe account or impersonation scams – Fraudsters convince people to move money from their account into the fraudster’s account, by pretending to be from an official organisation such as your bank, HMRC or the police.
• Investment scams such as crypto currencies and binary options- typically when someone poses as an investment service provider, Financial Advisor or fund manager to convince the customer to transfer large sums of money into a company or service that doesn’t actually exist.
• Romance scams – fraudsters, using a fake profile, form a relationship in order to ask for money, or enough personal information to steal the victim’s identity
• Purchase scams – sending money to buy goods that don’t exist or are not as advertised
• Invoice scams – where fraudsters send a false invoice, often pretending to be from a company that the victim is expecting a bill from (e.g. HMRC)

I paid by credit card or debit card, could I still be eligible for a refund from my bank?

Credit Cards

Yes  –  Under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act, the credit card company is jointly and severally liable for any breach of contract or misrepresentation by the retailer or trader. This means if you have lost funds paid for by a credit card you can reclaim the money from the bank. It applies to most, but not all, credit card agreements and also store cards, in store instalment credit and some car finance agreements (but not hire purchase). To be able to make a successful claim the supplier has to have breached the contract with the debtor or there has to have been some form of misrepresentation.

Debit Cards

Yes – Using Chargeback you may be able to get your money back if you made the transaction by debit card. Chargeback is a reverse payment as a result of a disputed purchased goods card transaction. If you were scammed by goods that never materialised or were not as expected you can use chargeback to claw back the money. Chargeback works by the bank withdrawing funds that were previously deposited into the recipient’s – usually a retailer – bank account and putting them back into your account. The recipient may dispute a chargeback with the bank if it can prove the chargeback is invalid.

We can help you with these types of claims or if you prefer you can contact the financial institution yourself.

Apply now to see if we can help