Best banks for dealing with fraud

Fraud: how do I get my money back?

Fraud is the most common crime in England and Wales – accounting for around 40% of all offences – driven by widespread abuse of social media platforms and payment systems. See the different types of fraud below.

If you fall victim to a scam, your first port of call is to contact your bank. 

If you are a victim of unauthorised fraud, your bank or card provider should refund you immediately, unless it has evidence that:

• You authorised the transactions yourself - and the bank can demonstrate this, though you should still ask for a refund and can cite the voluntary code for authorised bank transfer scams (if the payment was before 7 October 2024) or the mandatory reimbursement scheme (from 7 October 2024) 
• You acted fraudulently or negligently - the burden of proof is on the bank to show that you deliberately or with 'gross negligence' (a very significant degree of carelessness) failed to protect your card and/or Pin.
• You left it too late - the regulations state that you must inform your provider of unauthorised payments without 'undue delay' and, in any case, within 13 months.

But banks don't always get these decisions right.

No matter how you transferred the money, you should still report the fraud and escalate your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) if your provider dismisses your claim. If, for example, it failed to spot highly unusual and uncharacteristic patterns of spending, you could have a strong case for reimbursement.

Debit cards

For unauthorised use of your debit card, the new Payment Services Regulations state that the most you should have to pay is the first £35 (previously £50) of an unauthorised transaction if the bank has reason to believe you should've been aware that your payment details were lost or stolen.

Your bank can only refuse to refund you if it has evidence that you acted fraudulently, or with 'gross negligence'. It can't say that use of your password or Pin proves that you authorised a payment, although victims have told us this continues to happen.

If you authorise a payment to a scammer using your debit card,  you only benefit from fairly weak schemes such as chargeback (run by American Express, Mastercard and Visa) or PayPal’s Buyer Protection. While you can certainly use chargebacks for disputes with genuine retailers, it’s rarely useful for authorised transactions that end up in the hands of scammers.

This is because scammers typically ask you to first pay a genuine company – such as a cryptocurrency exchange or money transfer app – before the money is moved to an account the criminal controls. That means the cryptocurrency exchange or money transfer app has provided the intended services, albeit as part of a chain of fraud.

Credit cards, credit facilities and overdrafts

If the unauthorised fraud occurs on a credit card or a credit facility, the Consumer Credit Act takes precedence.

The issue of 'gross negligence' doesn't arise in this act so unless your card provider can demonstrate that you authorised the payment, you should get your money back.

Importantly, this means that if an unauthorised payment was from an overdrawn current account (a credit facility for the purposes of the law), you can only be held responsible for the first £35 and should be refunded the rest of the overdrawn balance, including any charges incurred as a result.

If you authorise a credit card payment to a retailer or trader you later discover is a scammer, you may be able to claim for breach of contract or misrepresentation under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 – as long as the item or service cost more than £100 and less than £30,000. 

You can’t claim for payments you authorise to a legitimate company (even if the money ultimately ends up in the hands of a criminal). But credit card payments sent directly to a scammer or fake company are potentially covered.  

Bank transfers 

Payments made without your approval are unauthorised and should be refunded in full. 

It can be much more difficult to get a refund when you inadvertently authorise a bank transfer to a scammer – because banks are legally required to follow your instructions – though all financial firms must take steps to protect customers from fraud. 

The biggest banks signed a voluntary Code for bank transfer scams, which provides a reimbursement fund for blameless victims.

This has been replaced with a mandatory scheme, from 7 October 2024, following a successful Which? campaign. We expect to see many more victims being reimbursed once this is in place, however, we were disappointed that the regulator caved to pressure to reduce the reimbursement cap to £85,000 per claim. 

Firms can refuse your claim if they have evidence that you failed to meet any of four requirements known as the 'consumer standard of caution'. 

These boil down to: heeding fraud warnings and other interventions by your provider; submitting your fraud claim within 13 months after the final payment to the fraudster; sharing relevant information about the fraud with your provider; and reporting the fraud to the police (or giving your consent for your provider to do so on your behalf).

But, you must have failed to meet one of these requirements with 'gross negligence' – and the burden of proof falls on firms. You may also be asked to pay a £100 ‘excess’ towards the claim, though TSB has said it will waive this and others may follow.

If you could be considered vulnerable to a scam because your personal circumstances made you especially susceptible to harm, you shouldn’t be subject to the consumer standard of caution or the £100 claims excess. The regulator has said it expects only a small minority of claims to be refused, so stand your ground if this happens.  

• Take action: a step-by-step guide on what to do if you're a victim of APP fraud

Best banks for fraud refunds

Data from the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) ranks the 14 biggest UK banking groups according to how much money they returned to victims of APP fraud in 2022 and 2023. 

Note that these frauds were handled under the old voluntary reimbursement scheme, not the new mandatory scheme.

What if the bank refuses to refund me?

If you think your bank or card provider has wrongly denied you reimbursement, or treated you unfairly in another way, lodge a formal complaint.

Take your case to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) if you're unhappy with its response. 

For most payment complaints, you must receive a full response within 15 business days, though firms can extend this to 35 business days in exceptional circumstances. 

APP fraud claims under the new mandatory scheme should be reimbursed within five business days of reporting fraud to your payment provider – though firms can 'stop the clock' by up to 35 business days to investigate complex claims.

The FOS will look at complaints related to disputed transactions for all FCA-regulated financial firms, including PayPal and store card providers such as NewDay.

If an investigator finds in your favour, your provider will be asked to refund the loss along with appropriate interest from the date of the disputed transaction.

• Find out more: how to take your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman

What are the different types of fraud?  

Broadly, fraud is described as either unauthorised or authorised. 

Card fraud

Card fraud accounts for the bulk of unauthorised fraud losses in the UK. The industry splits the data into these five categories, with remote purchase fraud the most common by some distance.

• Lost and stolen cards When a criminal uses a lost or stolen card to make a purchase (remotely or face-to-face) or withdraw funds from an ATM. Victims might be shoulder-surfed for their Pin or even tricked into handing their cards over to criminals pretending to be helping with a police enquiry (often referred to as a courier scam).
• Card ID theft When stolen or fake documents are used to open a new account in someone else's name (application fraud), or when a criminal takes over an existing account.
• Counterfeit card fraud When a fake card is created using stolen details from the magnetic strip on a genuine card. Crooks can use a cloned card in countries where chip and Pin isn't available, such as the US.
• Card not received fraud When a new or replacement card is stolen in transit before you receive it e.g. from a communal letterbox.

Remote banking fraud

If a criminal gains access to your bank account (through internet banking, telephone banking, or mobile banking) and makes an unauthorised transfer this is referred to as 'remote banking fraud'. Both cases and losses to this type of fraud fell in 2023, according to industry figures.

Bank transfer (authorised push payment) fraud

Authorised push payment (APP) fraud – where victims are tricked into sending money to a scammer by bank transfer – is ruthless and has grown quickly. As with card fraud, there are many different types of APP fraud.

• Impersonation scams Fraudsters posing as the police, your bank or other familiar firms to request bank transfers to accounts they control.
• Purchase scams Goods, eg those advertised on social media sites, that never arrive.
• Investment scams Fictitious funds or fake investments.
• Romance scams Maliciously targeting you via social media or dating websites and asking for money.
• Advance fee scams Criminals pretending payment will lead to a windfall e.g. lottery win or inheritance.
• Invoice and mandate scams Sending fake invoices claiming to be someone you are expecting to pay, such as a builder or solicitor.
• CEO fraud Impersonation of high-ranking officials from a business to request money.

How can I spot and stop fraud?

It's important to keep an eye on your finances and contact your bank if you're suspicious.