Which? response to the news that the number of holidaymakers being scammed is on the rise.

Alex Neill, Which? Managing Director of Home Products and Services, said:

“The sad reality is that as scammers get more sophisticated, many people are still falling victim, with some holidaymakers being left severely out of pocket.

“There is a massive gap in consumer protection for victims of bank transfer scams and we are yet to see the improvements needed from the banks and the regulator to stop people losing life-changing sums of money. We’re calling on the next Government to tackle this issue head on and ensure that financial firms do more to protect consumers from bank transfer scams.”

Notes to editors:

  1. On 23rd September 2016, Which? used its legal powers to make a super-complaint to the Payment Systems Regulator and alert the Financial Conduct Authority. The regulator responded on the 16th December 2016.
  2. Which? launched its scams reporting tool on in November 2016. More than 650 people shared their experience with Which? about losing over £5.5 million to bank transfer scams.https://prod-wordpress-press.internal.which.co.uk/whichpressreleases/which-reveals-potential-scale-of-bank-transfer-scams/
  3. Which?’s ‘Consumer Agenda for Government’ was published on Saturday 29th April and can be viewed by visiting www.which.co.uk/consumeragenda
  4. Which? is encouraging people to sign it’s Safeguard us from Scams campaign, which has had more than 270,000 signatures to date
  5. For advice on how to spot a scam or claim money back, visit http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/scams
  6. Holidaymakers can find out more about their consumer rights when they travel by visiting http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/travel

Statement