Which? responds to an increase in complaints to the Financial Ombudsman Service in the past year

Gareth Shaw, Which? Head of Money, said:

“Not only have fraud and bank transfer scams grown in number in the past year, they have also grown in sophistication.

“The industry code on push payment scams was designed to ensure that those who lose money to criminals are reimbursed when they are not at fault, yet a worrying culture of banks blaming victims for falling for these tricks has emerged.

“To stop firms wriggling out of giving victims their money back, the Payment Systems Regulator should work with the government to establish mandatory standards of consumer protection for all banks and payment providers, as well as making sure all banks publish data, including their reimbursement rates, to show how well they are preventing the harms caused by bank transfer fraud.”

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