SHOWCASE MAGAZINE | 2018
The bank can try and recover the funds once they
are notified. You could also have grounds to com-
plain if somehow the bank has contributed to the
fraud or if they’ve failed to try and recover the funds
properly.
If your bank refuse to offer you a refund, or only
offers a partial refund, you have a couple of options:
•Make an official complaint with the bank - but be
aware that banks have up to eight weeks to deal
with an official complaint.
•Inform the bank that you will escalate your com-
plaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service.
You should also contact the police, a crime number
will usually help your claim. From the 1 January
2018, if you’ve been a victim of a bank transfer scam
you’ll only need to deal with your bank when mak-
ing a complaint – not the bank the fraudster was
with. The Payments Systems Regulator is also con-
sulting on a reimbursement scheme if you’re tricked
into transferring money to a fraudster and your bank
fails to do enough to protect you. These actions
have been taken in response to our super-complaint
and will go a long way to tackling these scams. But
banks still need to look at what other steps they can
take to stop these scams from happening in the first
place
der PayPal Seller Protection. But this has conditions
and requirements - particularly around the delivery
address that’s used and the seller having proof of
delivery. As long as you’ve met all of the criteria you
should be protected. In some instances the scammer
will be aware of these rules and will specify a differ-
ent delivery address or collect in person. In this case
you won’t be covered by seller protection because
you’ve not met the condition of posting the item to
the account holder’s registered address.
I used a money transfer wire service
Unfortunately, you can’t always get your money back
if you’ve been scammed, especially if you’ve hand-
ed over cash or you’ve paid via a wire service such
as MoneyGram, PayPoint or Western Union. All of
these services provide advice on how to avoid fraud
and scams, so it’s a good idea to read their advice to
safeguard yourself against future scams of this kind.
I didn’t authorise the payment
If there is a transaction on your card you know
nothing about, then you can make a claim from your
bank as an unauthorised transaction. If you hand
over your card to have a particular amount debited
from it, and then you find more money has been
taken without your permission, or a sum has been
taken by someone else, you can make a claim for
this extra amount.
The Payment Services Regulations 2009 and the
Banking Conduct of Business rules place obligations
on banks and building societies to provide a refund
in these circumstances. Make sure you report the
unauthorised transaction as soon as you become
aware of it. Scams to watch out for: If you respond
to an email from fraudsters and send money, there
is no mechanism to get the money back if it’s a
transaction you authorised. You should be particu-
larly careful of responding to emails that state you
stand to gain a large sum of money but need to send
I paid using PayPal - Order not delivered
If the scammer has taken payment for an item
through PayPal and then hasn’t sent, you should be
covered by PayPal Buyer Protection. But there are
some exceptions and time limits on lodging a claim.
In some cases scammers set up convincing looking
PayPal payment forms which actually just gather
your bank details. In this case, you have no protec-
tion under the PayPal Buyer Protection Scheme.
Fake PayPal payment page - This is because PayP-
al aren’t part of the transaction; the scammer has
just used their branding without their knowledge to
make fraudulent activity look legitimate.
Seller protection - Where a scam-
mer pays through PayPal, takes
delivery of the order, and then
claims that they didn’t receive it
and makes a claim through PayPal
Buyer Protection or section 75. If
you’re caught by this scam you’ll
probably want to make a claim un-
Do you know your rights if you
have been scammed. Our guides
help you spot a scam or get your
money back.
50