Authorised Push Payment Fraud

If you have sent money to a scammer by BACS, bank transfer or via a faster payment then you have been a victim of Authorised Push Payment (APP) fraud. Fraudsters favour this method as, put simply, it’s much easier for them to get away with. As mentioned above, at Refundee, we are experts at helping victims of push payment fraud get their money back from their bank. If you want help getting your money back from a scam, fill in a form on our website for a free consultation.

If you want to know how to get money back when you’ve been scammed through a different method, such as paying the fraudster through a cryptocurrency exchange, then go to the last paragraph of this article.

APP scams are becoming increasingly sophisticated and complicated. This can make it difficult for members of the public to spot and prevent before they happen. The aim of the scammer is to trick you into sending money from your account, and they have a number of common approaches they take.

For some victims, from May 2019 the Contingent Reimbursement Model (CRM) Code applies. This is a voluntary code on push payment scams that provides protections for customers where their bank has signed the code. The CRM delivers a commitment from all signatory firms to reimburse victims of APP fraud as long as the customer has met the standards expected of them under the code. To put it simply, it sets out when banks should refund victims of APP fraud.

There are exclusions that apply to the Code, and firms have been heavily criticised by groups such as Which? due to the way they have applied the rules and these exclusions. Whether you get a refund or not can be a lottery that depends on who you have an account with, how they interpret the Code and how they interpret the facts of your case as you have presented them. Refundee can help victims where their bank has signed the code, but can also help those where this is not the case.

You should always report any scam you’ve been a victim of to your bank first. If the bank says no, Refundee can help present arguments to help you get money lost to fraud from your bank.

If you’ve lost money to a push payment scam, Refundee can manage your case for you, as an FCA regulated claims management company. If you’d like us to do this for you, start the process by filling out our scam refund claim form. Our fee is 15% plus VAT on anything that we get back, and we don't charge anything if we are not successful. For larger cases, the fee is subject to a maximum of £10k plus VAT per case.

Remember you don’t need to use a company like Refundee, you could work your case yourself for free! If you’d like to get a refund yourself, you can do this by following our bank transfer refund guide.

You could still have a case if you paid by BACS, and Refundee can help with this. Put simply, your case will likely depend on how unusual the payment was for you. The CRM Code mentioned earlier does not apply to BACS payments, it only applies to faster payments (bank transfers) and CHAPS payments according to the Payment Systems Regulator.

This just means there are different rules that apply but Refundee can still help. For example, you might want to get your money back when you’ve been scammed and sent the funds through a payment method such as:

• An international transfer

Through a crypto exchange such as Binance, Moonpay, Crypto.com or Coinbase

• Debit card

• Credit card

• Cheque or cash

The chances of getting your money back are affected by how you paid but in all cases we recommend you report the fraud to your bank first and ask if your bank will refund you scammed money.

At Refundee we believe that most scams now go through cryptocurrency exchanges as the fraudsters find this much easier to get away with. We also have a lot of success getting people's money back when they’ve been scammed and sent the funds through most payment methods including through a crypto exchange.