Do not refund ‘irresponsible’ fraud victims, says police chief

BANKS should not guarantee refunds for all fraud victims to encourage the public to be less careless, a police chief has claimed.

Commander Karen Baxter, the national coordinator for economic crime at the City of London police, suggested there should be “consequences for extremely irresponsible behaviour” if people ignore safety advice.

Her intervention comes just days before a voluntary code of practice offering greater protection against fraud is adopted by major banks including Barclays, HSBC and TSB.

The new rules will mean customers duped into transferring money to scammers posing as trusted parties – known as “push payment” fraud – will be covered for their losses.

While most banks are expected to ask customers to demonstrate they took reasonable care before giving refunds, TSB is to offer a “fraud guarantee” to all victims.

This allows any customer who has been scammed to get their money back, except in instances where guidance has been repeatedly ignored.

Ms Baxter claimed a greater degree of “personal responsibility” was needed to stop the public growing complacent about fraud.

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.”

Previously, banks have not always refunded customers who fall victim to push payment scams, as they authorised the transfer of money to the criminal themselves.

Ms Baxter said she welcomed the code, but indicated a guaranteed refund policy was not “encouraging the best responsible behaviour”.