New rules to protect against bank scams

SCAM victims tricked into transferring money directly to a fraudster will soon have stronger powers to complain about the bank that received the money – not just their own bank.

The new rules being introduced by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) come into force on January 31, 2019.

Under the rule changes, the bank receiving money from a victim of this type of scam, known as authorised push payment (APP) fraud, will have to take the victim’s complaint on if one is made to them about their response.

If, after complaining, the scam victim is still unhappy with the way the receiving bank has handled their case, the new rules will allow them to escalate their complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS).

Currently, the bank sending the money – but not the receiving bank – must handle these complaints, but campaigners have been calling for banks to do more.