Cash boost for victims of frauds

FRAUD victims will soon have the power to claim against the criminal’s bank – not just their own.

New rules from the Financial Conduct Authority come into force on January 31.

After then, any bank receiving an “Authorised Push Payment” cannot dismiss a complaint.

If the victim is still unhappy, he or she can go to the Financial Ombudsman.

Currently, only the bank sending the money is obliged to handle these complaints.

Victims of APP fraud may never see their money again as the bank was acting on their instructions.

Last year there were 43,875 cases of APP fraud totalling £236million, according to banking trade association UK Finance.