Jump in complex scam cases seen by Financial Ombudsman Service

More complaints about scams are being taken to the Financial Ombudsman Service and there are also signs that fraudsters’ tactics are becoming more complex.

The service, which can be asked by consumers to step in if they cannot reach an agreement with a financial firm, said that in the 2022/23 financial year, it received 21,918 fraud and scam complaints, up by nearly a fifth (19%) compared with the 18,450 complaints it received in 2021/22.

Around half of the latest fraud complaints (10,985) were about authorised push payment (APP) scams. This is a 17% increase from the 9,370 APP scam complaints received in 2021/22.

APP scams happen when someone is tricked into sending money to a fraudster.

The ombudsman service said it has been dealing with a higher proportion of complex scam complaints, with some involving investments or cryptocurrency.

It is seeing increasing numbers of complaints which contain the features of more than one scam.

For example, someone may be duped by a romance scammer who then persuades them to invest in cryptocurrency schemes which do not exist.

Or someone may attempt to pay for goods which do not exist and then receive a phone call from scammers impersonating their bank who persuades them to make multiple payments by claiming their payment attempts have been unsuccessful.

Pat Hurley, ombudsman director at the Financial Ombudsman Service, said: “Fraud is not just a financial crime – it can have a profound emotional impact too. We continue to receive hundreds of complaints a week from victims of fraud and scams.

“We are beginning to see more hybrid scams compared to a year ago. Fraudsters are always trying to stay ahead of the game by evolving their methods of scamming consumers and people should be extra vigilant.

“The Financial Ombudsman Service is free for consumers and, if you think you have been treated unfairly by your bank, you should complain to the business first and then get in contact with our service, and we’ll see if we can help.”

The uphold rate for fraud continues to remain higher than the FOS’s average for all financial products and services, which is 35%.

The uphold rate for all fraud and scams, including APP scams, chip and pin fraud, ID theft and disputed transactions, is 45%. The uphold rate for APP scams is higher, at 54%.

The ombudsman service also said it is receiving more complaints where the financial provider has not signed up to a voluntary reimbursement code, which many banks and building societies are signed up to.

The code provides additional protection for consumers, as banks should generally reimburse their customers unless there are exceptional circumstances.