We must hunt down fraudsters like the criminals they are

INNOCENT victims should not pay the cost of fraud.

It’s the stories, not the statistics, that hit you; people — normal, law- abiding, money-saving people — who have seen their life-savings wiped out in an instant.

Everyone knows fraud is a growing problem, but nothing prepares you for the devastation it wreaks.

One of the many cases I’ve come across concerned an elderly couple from Aberdeen who took a call from a fraudster and were conned into thinking there had been a security breach on their internet banking. The crook asked them to transfer their money into a safe account and, just a few hours later, he’d swindled them out of thousands of pounds.

We need a hunting mentality when it comes to tracking down fraudsters. The people behind these crimes are cunning and organised.

Financial fraud needs to be treated like the serious crime it is. Banks have a big role to play and they are doing some great work, but we all need to do more. It’s not enough to say that this is a matter for the police to sort out.

That’s why TSB has set up a partnership with the Met Police — and is working with other local forces across the UK — to bring greater support and resources to this issue. Education is critical, so we’re investing in fraud awareness programmes, too. But all of this is irrelevant if you’ve already lost money to fraud.

Increasingly over the past year we’ve been repaying money when customers have made honest mistakes. But what we need now is to go one step further: we need a clear policy that protects customers and ensures no innocent victims are left out of pocket after being taken in by a scam.

Fraudsters are becoming more and more sophisticated and are always devising new ways to attack customers. So, while we continue to invest in fraud-detection measures, these are not enough on their own.

Fraud refund policies just haven’t kept pace with the scammers. You don’t have to be frail or foolish to fall victim. All too often, customers must fight to be refunded and are treated unsympathetically.

So, for all these reasons, TSB has become the first bank to launch a guarantee that any innocent customer who falls victim to transactional bank fraud going forward will be reimbursed. We are incredibly proud of this commitment.