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Banks regularly deny claims for unfair reasons. A fraud gets called a civil matter, a generic pop-up gets called a warning, or a convincing scam gets judged with hindsight. None of those reasons is the final word. Decisions can be challenged and escalated to the Financial Ombudsman Service, and we know where they most often go wrong.
Why choose Refundee to recover your funds?
Over {{money-recovered-text}} recovered
The total amount we've got back from scams, for our clients.
FCA regulated
Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority for claims management.
Rated 'Excellent' on Trustpilot
The UK’s best-rated fraud recovery specialist, from hundreds of verified reviews.
Helped over {{total-customers-text}} clients
From single bank transfers to group actions with hundreds of victims.
How to spot Romance Fraud
Romance scams start with a message on social media or a dating site and a believable story about why you cannot meet. Requests for money follow, small at first, then bigger and more urgent, and they rarely stop until you do.
It's free to find out if we can help
We've already helped over {{total-customers-text}} people recover {{money-recovered-text}}, and we're ready to help you too.
- You came across the person on social media or through a dating site You may receive an out of the blue message on social media contacting you requesting to chat about normal things. Fraudsters also regularly use dating sites such as Tinder to find victims. They will act interested at first and conduct a normal conversation before looking to switch to WhatsApp or social media.
- A seemingly legitimate story After initially contacting you and asking details about yourself, they will respond with a well thought of story about themselves. These can be different types of stories, however we usually see that they work away for work for example in the army, or at sea where they are away from home for months at a time. This is a tactic to create a back story for what comes next. They also use the story as to why they cannot meet in person.
- Pressure for funds After they have gained the victim’s trust, fraudsters will use this to their advantage. They will look to request funds from the victim and use multiple different reasons as to why they need the funds. Depending on the initial story they created, they will pressure the victim to send them funds. At Refundee we have seen multiple reasons for this with some of the most common being:
- They are an expert trader on crypto or investments and they can make you money too
- They need money to help their family as their funds have been frozen
- They need money in order to return home from their job
- They have been falsely imprisoned and need money to leave
- You were encouraged to “start small” by sending small amounts first Fraudsters will usually ask you to send smaller amounts first, but as you do this they will increase the amounts they ask for, and the reasons as to why they need it will become even more and more serious. In investment/crypto cases this will increase with you receiving returns at the start or they will show you how much your investment has made, which is faked by the scammer.
You can read more about crypto and investment scams on our website. - The request for funds don’t stop Once you have sent the fraudster money, they will not stop until you no longer have any more money to send. They are relentless and will pressure you to invest your life savings until you realise they are not real. If you think you are the victim of this, it is important not to send any more money.
- They threaten you when you stop paying Once the fraudsters stop receiving payments they will threaten or blackmail you into sending further funds. It is important not to send funds as this will continue until you eventually cut contact with them. You can read more about this on our Sextortion post.
If you are experiencing any of the issues above, or concerned about your situation you can check if you’re eligible by starting your claim.
Romance Scam
Refundee recovers £30,000 from 6-year romance scam
Someone posing as Tom Cruise on Facebook took our client's life savings over six years of made-up reasons and promises. The bank rejected the complaint as authorised payments. We escalated to the Financial Ombudsman, which instructed the bank to refund £30,000.
Published Date
Romance Scam
Romance scam victim recovers £45,000 from dating app scam
A dating app match confessed love within days, then introduced an exclusive crypto coin supposedly issued by the Singapore government. Our client lost £92,000. After the bank's rejection, the Financial Ombudsman upheld the case and instructed a £45,000 refund.
Published Date
Romance Scam
£50,000 inheritance money recovered for a Romance Scam Victim
Targeted while grieving, our client was persuaded to put inheritance money into a fake crypto scheme run by a romance scammer. Lloyds rejected the claim because the payments were authorised. We took the case to the Financial Ombudsman and recovered £50,000.
Published Date
Rated Excellent on Trustpilot.
We’ve helped over {{total-customers-text}} people recover {{money-recovered-text}} in stolen funds.
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