Banks warned not to resort to victim-blaming
ADVICE
Banks are being reminded not to assume their customers are at fault when they fall victim to sophisticated scammers. The warning, from the Financial Ombudsman Service, comes ahead of a new code of conduct to tackle a surge in so-called “transfer scams”, which comes into force next month. It’s now increasingly difficult for banks to avoid refunding fraud victims by claiming they have been “grossly negligent”, as criminals use such sophisticated methods. Chief ombudsman Caroline Wayman said: “Both banks and their customers often tell us in strong terms that they haven’t done anything wrong. “But it’s not fair to automatically call a customer grossly negligent simply because they’ve fallen for a scam.” When your bank refunds an unauthorised payment, it must also refund any charges and interest you have paid because of the unauthorised transaction. Your bank can generally only refuse a refund for an unauthorised payment if: It can prove you authorised the transaction – though your bank cannot simply say that use of your password, card or PIN conclusively proves you authorised a payment. It can prove you are at fault because you acted fraudulently or because you deliberately, or with “gross negligence” failed to protect the details of your card, PIN or password in a way that allowed the transaction. You told your bank about an unauthorised payment 13 months or more after the date it left your account, so make sure you contact the bank as soon as possible.