Citizens Advice is running its annual Scams Awareness campaign this week and revealed that one in five of us has fallen victim to a financial scam over the last year. If you’re a victim of a financial scam, both the financial and emotional impact can be life changing. I was on Channel 5News on Monday chatting with Tessa Chapman and sharing advice on what to watch for with scams and the rules on how to get your money back.
When it comes to scams, slamming the door on a dodgy cold caller is no guarantee of protection, as fraudsters now target us in our own homes, with calls, texts, WhatsApp messages and emails. Their aim is always to catch you off guard and send you into a panic, so you act on impulse, which can be very costly.
Scam tell tale signs
There’s so many different scams out there so I always suggest taking a look at the Take Five to Stop Fraud website which lists the current ones doing the rounds.
However you’re contacted, with any scam, any kind of time pressure and being rushed into making a decision, should act as a massive red flag, as should being asked to pay by bank transfer when ordering goods or services online.
When it comes to keeping your financial details safe, the absolute hard and fast rule is to never ever give anyone your PIN number or full password. Fraudsters will often try and get this from you with authorised Push Payment (APP) scams. These scams cost us nearly £460 million last year according to UK Finance.
With APP scams, you’ll usually get a call from someone claiming to be from the Police or your bank, telling you they’ve spotted ‘fraudulent activity’ on your account. While you’re in a panic, they’ll act super calm, extracting financial information from you before encouraging you to set up a new ‘safe’ account, where they’ll ask you to transfer the contents of your bank account. And yes you’ve guessed it, that new account will be one the fraudsters can get their hands on and drain dry!
What to do if you’ve been scammed
Call your bank, but never ever use any number you’re given during a ‘cold call’. Contact your bank using the number on the back of your bank card or statement, or call ‘159’, which is a universal fraud reporting hotline where you can be connected to your genuine bank.
If you’ve been scammed into paying money by bank transfer you may be able to get your money back from your bank – more info coming up on the new rules in a second. You should also call Action Fraud to report the scam.
And if you paid by credit card, and been scammed, say you’ve been duped into booking flights with a bogus flight company, you should contact your credit card provider and ask to do a ‘Section 75’ claim.
Section 75 is a legal rule, (contained within the Consumer Credit Act), and means you can ask your credit card company for a refund, in the event you pay for goods or services that cost over £100 and the company goes bust or goods don’t arrive.
New fraud refund rules
Just this month, from 7 October, new fraud refund rules came into play. Under regulations from the Payment Systems Regulator financial firms including banks, building societies and e-money firms must now refund you if you’re scammed into paying by bank transfer.
There’s a few caveats to this. Banks must cover losses of up to £85,000, and reimburse you within five days. If you have lost more than £85,000 financial firms can pay higher amounts, but only if they choose to.
However if your bank thinks the fraud happened due to you being seriously negligent, they may reject your case. If this happens, you can still take your case to the free Financial Ombudsman Service.
Watch for festive scams
Watch out for sellers offering super cheap gifts, especially tech or gadgets, at much reduced prices compared to other sellers, and avoid buying through social media sites. Buying from a bogus seller or through a fake website means scammers get your money but you won’t get your goods, so always buy from reputable stores, and once again, never pay by bank transfer, whatever the seller’s excuse!
‘Missed delivery’ parcel scams have been around for a while but tend to escalate in the run up to Christmas, when most of us are expecting parcels, and unlikely to have any idea which courier company will be delivering them.
The way this scam works is that you’ll get a text message claiming you’ve ‘missed’ a delivery and need to pay a small amount, usually a couple of quid, to reschedule. The fraudsters will include a link in the message, and during the process you’ll be asked for bank and financial details that enable fraudsters to get their hands on your cash.
Watch out for fake charities too. Sadly fraudsters have no shame and will stoop to any level to extract money from us. Check that any charity you donate to is genuine – easy way to do this if you’re concerned, is check that they’re listed on the Charity Commission website