Scam victims won’t get a penny back
SCAM victims who fail to take “reasonable care” to protect themselves against criminals will not get their money back under a formal compensation scheme being designed by watchdogs.
From next year, an anti-fraud revolution will see consumers who have been conned into transferring money to fraudsters reimbursed by their bank – but only if they can prove that they did not act recklessly.
Victims who have lost life-changing amounts could be denied a single penny of compensation if they did not conduct “common sense” checks, such as spotting bogus email addresses or account details and names that do not correspond.
The plans are being drawn up by the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) to curb a growing fraud epidemic in which criminals posing as legitimate organisations are extracting £200million from 40,000 victims every year.
Last night, consumer groups said bank customers who fall for scams should not be blamed and called for banks to take the responsibility.
The fraud usually involves email interception or some form of trickery, whereby the victim unknowingly sends money to a criminal’s account, meaning they are often unaware of the scam until it is too late. Gareth Shaw, the Which? Money Expert, said: “These scams have become so complex and believable that many consumers couldn’t be expected to spot them. Banks should consider introducing additional checks – such as delayed payments or third party signatures – with extra focus on protecting vulnerable customers.” James Daley, director at Fairer Finance, a consumer group, said: “The test should be how far did the bank go to stop the scam, not how far did the consumer go.
“It is perfectly possible for banks to install enough checks to fully put an end to this and the test should be how far have they gone – not how far have consumers gone. Losing their life savings is far too high a penalty for customers who have been negligent and this should not happen.”
At present, just one in four victims are reimbursed, but this figure is set to rise considerably. The action follows a “super-complaint” by Which? over concerns people were being conned out of huge sums of money with no hope of compensation.
The PSR said it was considering changing the law to allow criminal funds frozen in bank accounts to be used to compensate victims.
The Daily Telegraph has previously called for regulators to act to stop consumers being tricked as we have heard from dozens of consumers swindled by tricksters posing as solicitors, investment professionals, government departments and salesmen.
In one shocking case, a woman lost £130,000 in a sophisticated solicitor scam and reported it to First Direct, her bank, only to be told the fraud team had finished for the night.