Lost money to a Unauthorised Scam?

Refundee can help when you’ve been charged for a payment you did not consent to or intend to make. This is referred to as ‘unauthorised fraud’. This is usually when your card is used without your permission or somebody steals your phone and uses it to send money. It can also often be when someone has tricked you into making a payment that you didn’t want to make.

If you consented to a transaction that turns out to be fraud, this is different and is treated as an Authorised Push Payment (APP) scam.

If you are the victim of an unauthorised scam, then you have strong protections for a refund; however, banks don’t always adhere to this and reject refunds for unfair reasons.

As a regulated claims management company, if you’d like our help, just complete our online claim form or give us a call. Remember, you can do it yourself for free by taking your case to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

Examples of unauthorised fraud

Shoulder Surfing

A physical way of being the victim of unauthorised fraud is shoulder surfing. This is where a fraudster looks over your shoulder when you are taking money out of a cashpoint as you enter your pin number. Usually, they will film this or note the number down. Fraudsters will also look to watch you enter your pin number on your phone, which will allow them access to your online banking and your card if they steal your phone or cards.

Remote Access

Fraudsters can remotely access your account or computer in a number of ways and make payments from your account to an account controlled by them. A more common example of this is “safe account” scams, where the fraudster will trick you into giving them access to your account by pretending to be your bank and asking you to share a verification code, which allows them access to your online banking. Fraudsters can also pretend to be tech support or the police and may need access to your account for various reasons.

Apple Pay Scam

Fraudsters will claim to be from your bank and tell you to cancel your card as there has been fraudulent activity on it. They state that a new card is on the way, and in the meantime, you should set up Apple Pay on your account temporarily. In doing so, they will actually set this up on their phone, and they then have access to your account through Apple Pay and go on a spending spree.