Why banks should NOT refund all fraud victims, by top cop

BANKS should not guarantee refunds for fraud victims to deter customers from being careless with their money, a police chief has claimed.

Commander Karen Baxter, the national co-ordinator for economic crime at the City of London police, said there should be ‘consequences for extremely irresponsible behaviour’ such as ignoring safety advice and making unwise transfers.

Her calls come days before major banks including HSBC, RBS and NatWest are set to adopt a voluntary code of conduct requiring them to refund scam victims in full provided they have shown reasonable diligence. It will protect against ‘push payment’ fraud, where customers are tricked into transferring money to scammers pretending to be trusted parties.

The code spelled a victory for the Mail which has led the campaign for fairer treatment of victims of sophisticated fraud, who lose an average £2,920 per case.

But Commander Baxter said more ‘personal responsibility’ was required to prevent the public from being complacent about the threat of scammers.

She told The Sunday Times: ‘If we are not diligent around money and the economy, we all end up paying for it. I’m not sure that’s a good message.’

Around £1.2billion was stolen through fraud last year, including £354million by authorised push payments. Until now, banks have refused to give compensation in the case of the latter, claiming it is the fault of the victim.

Commander Baxter said she welcomed the new code, but said it is not ‘encouraging the best responsible behaviour’, adding: ‘When people are being offered things that are too good to be true, things that they are advised against doing... I think we have to have some really difficult conversations.’