Mail’s victory for the victims of bank scams

THOUSANDS of fraud victims tricked into handing over their life savings could now get their money back following a landmark watchdog ruling.

In a major victory for Money Mail’s Stop the Bank Scammers campaign, the Financial Ombudsman has ordered Santander to refund a customer who lost £12,000.

The ruling could open the floodgates for claims from many other fraud victims.

In the Santander case, the victim thought he was speaking to the bank’s fraud department and unwittingly gave criminals the information they needed to transfer money out of his account.

Banks typically refuse to refund scam victims in these instances on the grounds they authorised the payment or were negligent with their banking details.

But in this case, the Ombudsman said the customer was ‘a victim of a sophisticated scam with social engineering at the very heart of it’ and had not authorised the transaction or acted with gross negligence.

Fraud expert Richard Emery, of consultancy 4Keys International, said: ‘This is a huge step forward. The bar has been set at a higher level and, if a bank refuses to refund victims, it will have to prove they have been truly negligent. The chances of the Ombudsman taking the bank’s side now are very slim.’

The decision means that fraud victims who have recently been refused a refund by their bank on the grounds they were grossly negligent could resubmit a complaint to their bank. The bank may then agree to have another look at the complaint and, if not, the customer could escalate it to the Ombudsman. Customers could also ask the Ombudsman to reopen their case if they have not yet received a final decision.

Customers have six years to complain to their bank about a disputed unauthorised transaction. When banks reject a complaint, customers have six months to go to the Ombudsman.

Caroline Wayman, of the Financial Ombudsman Service, said: ‘Each year, we see more than 8,000 cases involving fraud and scams.

‘It’s not fair to automatically call a customer grossly negligent.’

A spokesman for Santander said: ‘We acknowledge the new approach being taken by the Financial Ombudsman and have resolved this case in line with the decision.’

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