MORE FRAUD VICTIMS WILL BE REIMBURSED

BANKS will be required to reimburse customers who are tricked into transferring their money to a fraudster. Victims lost £355million to this type of fraud in the first half of last year alone. The scam has devastating consequences and thousands of victims lose their life savings. Fraudsters often gain their victim’s trust by pretending to be figures of authority, such as a police officer, bank branch staff or from the National Crime Agency.

At the moment, just 43p of every £1 stolen is reimbursed to victims. Most banks are signed up to a voluntary code of conduct that requires them to pay up where the victim is not to blame, but in many cases they fail to do so. The code is set to become mandatory, which is likely to push up reimbursement rates dramatically. The change will mean banks are better incentivised to prevent scams and retrieve victims’ losses as it will be the company – and not the victims – left out of pocket.

The toughening up of rules is a major victory for our ‘Nail The Scammers’ campaign, which calls for better protection for victims.