Fraudsters' tactics are becoming more complex - here is what to look out for
Fraudsters' tactics are becoming increasingly complex, with more complaints about scams being escalated to the Financial Ombudsman Service, new figures have found.
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.
This is up by nearly a fifth (19%) compared to the 18,450 complaints it received in 2021-22.
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The service said it has been dealing with a higher proportion of complex scam complaints, with some involving investments and cryptocurrency.
One of the more prevalent tricks involves people being duped by a romance scammer who then persuades them to invest in cryptocurrency schemes which do not exist.
Alternatively, they may attempt to pay for non-existent goods and then receive a phone call from scammers impersonating their bank who persuades them to make multiple payments by claiming their previous attempts have been unsuccessful.
Around half of the latest fraud complaints (10,985) were about authorised push payment (APP) scams. This is when someone is tricked into sending money to a fraudster and is a 17% increase in the number of APP scam complaints received last year.
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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 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.
Around 40,000 Brits have reported being targeted by scams, according to analysts at Proxyrack, with scammers preying on households as the cost of living crisis continues.
