Less than half of the losses of fraud victims who transfer cash to scammers’ bank accounts have been repaid under a voluntary code that banks are applying inconsistently, according to a consumer group.
Which? called for the code, introduced in 2019 to ensure the reimbursement of money lost in bank transfer scams, to be strengthened and mandatory standards to make the process “fairer and more consistent”.
The group cited UK Finance figures which show £412.9 million has been lost in 189,000 cases of bank transfer fraud between the introduction of the code in May 2019 and the end of 2020 – amounting to £707,000 every day.
But Which? said only 46% of the money lost in that time had been returned, meaning victims had taken a £225 million hit.