Fraud and scams

If you’ve been affected by a fraud or scam, we can look into a complaint if you feel that your bank or financial provider hasn’t done enough to help you.

The information on this page explains how to complain following a fraud or scam. You can also read about common types of fraud, how to look out for scams, and other organisations that offer help or advice, in the general information we share about frauds and scams.

People typically bring a complaint to us after a scam when their bank or other payment services provider refuses to reimburse money that’s been lost.

We look into thousands of complaints about frauds and scams. The range of circumstances we see in these complaints is constantly evolving. 

Some of the scams we see are very convincing – for example, we see cases that involve cloned websites that look identical to real ones, fake adverts that try to persuade the reader to buy an item or to make an investment, telephone numbers that appear to be a bank or a trusted organisation, or text messages asking for money that look like they’re from a friend or relative.

Most of the complaints we see about fraud and scams complaints fall into the following categories:

• Scams where the customer is tricked into transferring money – this is called Authorised Push Payment (APP) fraud. A person thinks they are transferring money to a genuine person or organisation, for a genuine purpose – but they are actually transferring money to a scammer. Commonly this involves people thinking they are making a payment to their bank or another trusted organisation, paying an invoice, making an investment, or buying goods or services that never arrive. Many of these complaints are covered by the Contingent Reimbursement Model (CRM Code) – a voluntary code that a number of banks and other payment services providers have signed up to. You can read more about it in section 4 on this page.

• Scams where the customer was tricked into making a payment with their credit or debit card, either to an investment that doesn’t exist, or via a “crypto-exchange” on to a trading platform that doesn’t exist.

• Scams where the customer was tricked into handing over their bank details, allowing the fraudster to take money from their account without their consent
• Plastic card fraud or disputed transactions. These involve payments or transactions from an account or card that the customer tells us they didn’t make or authorise.

The first thing you should do is contact your bank or payment service provider to explain what’s happened. You should tell them about a suspected scam or a disputed payment as soon as you can. We share more detail about common types of fraud and what to do if you think you have been affected by a scam.

If you’re not happy with what happens or the response you receive from your bank or payment provider you can complain. They should look into things and send you a final response within 15 days.

If you’re not happy with their final response, or they don’t reply in time, you can make a complaint to us. We’ll check it’s something we can deal with, and if it is, we’ll investigate.

To help us consider a complaint fairly, we’ll ask you about what happened. We’ll ask you questions about the circumstances and the transactions that are in dispute. We’ll give you the opportunity to share any documents or other information you have.

We’ll make a fair and reasonable decision about what happened using evidence provided by you, the bank and any relevant third parties. In reaching a decision, we consider:

• the relevant law
• any regulations that applied at the time – for example the Lending Standards Board’s CRM Code for many APP scams since 28 May 2019
• any industry codes of conduct in force at the time 
• good industry practice and/or relevant regulatory guidance 
• the terms and conditions of the account that the disputed transaction was made from

Read more about how we make decisions and what to expect when we are handling your case.

The Contingent Reimbursement Model (CRM) Code is a voluntary code for authorised push payment (APP) fraud that has been in place since May 2019. Not all financial businesses have signed the code.

For customers of those that have signed it (‘signatories’), the starting assumption is that the money lost will be returned to them, unless one of the exceptions in the CRM Code applies. 

In the cases we see, the most common exceptions that signatories state for not reimbursing a scam victim under the CRM Code are:

• the customer ignored Effective Warnings
• the customer did not take appropriate actions following a clear negative Confirmation of Payee result
• the customer made the payment without a reasonable basis for believing the payee was the person the Customer was expecting to pay; the payment was for genuine goods or services; and/or the person or business with whom they transacted was legitimate

However, if a victim is classed as vulnerable, these exceptions do not apply, and the CRM Code sets out what should happen instead.

The CRM Code allows for a number of possible outcomes – no reimbursement at all, part reimbursement, and full reimbursement to the customer.

The CRM Code doesn’t apply to every type of bank transfer, even if the payment was made as part of a scam. If the CRM Code doesn’t apply in your case, we’ll explain why. We’ll also consider other relevant matters – such as whether there is any other reason why the financial business involved should take any responsibility for allowing the scam payments to happen.

You can find out more about the code, signatories to the code and a copy of the code itself on the Lending Standard Board’s website.

Find out more about when you can expect to hear from us once we’ve started to investigate your complaint. 

If we find you’ve been treated unfairly, we’ll ask the business to put things right.

This usually involves putting you back in the position you’d be in if things hadn’t gone wrong. 

It will depend on the nature and type of complaint but it might include, for example, asking a business to refund a disputed transaction and consider its effect on you and your account. This may include interest (usually calculated at 8% per year simple) and charges.

Read our information about avoiding fraud and scams and other trusted organisations that can help.

If you’re a business looking for information to help you resolve complaints, you can find detailed information about fraud and scams complaints in the business section of our website.