Context
People are being warned to be extra vigilant about the threat from fraudsters and scammers following a significant rise in cases seen by the Financial Ombudsman Service over the last year. The data, published Friday 24th September, shows that fraud and scam complaints continue to be one of the main drivers of complaints to the Financial Ombudsman Service.
Key points to note
- Cases include problems caused by fraudsters posing as a customer’s bank and convincing them to move their money to a fake ‘safe account’; consumers being scammed by paying for goods via a bank transfer but not subsequently receiving what they paid for.
- The number of customers asking the Financial Ombudsman Service for help with fraud and scams complaints increased by 66% in the first quarter of the 2021/22 financial year, going up to 5,025 cases compared with 3,028 in the same period during the previous year.
- Over that period, 60% of fraud and scam complaints were upheld by the organisation, compared with 50% the previous year.
- FOS has also published its Quarterly data in relation to financial products – this covers the period April -June 2021
Next actions
None – for information and awareness