UK financial fraud and scams: how to protect your money

APP (Authorised Push Payment) fraud is now the UK's biggest fraud type — where criminals convince victims to voluntarily transfer money. The main variants are: purchase scams (fake online sellers who take payment but send nothing), romance scams (fake online relationships that progress to requests for money), investment scams (promises of high returns from fake investment platforms), impersonation scams (criminals posing as banks, HMRC, police, or couriers), and invoice fraud (intercepting legitimate invoices and changing payment details). Investment and romance scams tend to involve the largest individual losses, because victims are often drawn in over weeks or months.

Investment scams are particularly dangerous because they target financially literate people seeking genuine returns. Warning signs include: unsolicited contact (cold calls, social media DMs, WhatsApp messages) about investments; promises of guaranteed high returns (no legitimate investment guarantees returns); pressure to act quickly or keep the investment secret; requests to transfer money to overseas accounts or cryptocurrency wallets; platforms not registered with the FCA; and 'clone firm' scams where fraudsters impersonate legitimate FCA-regulated companies. Always check the FCA register (register.fca.org.uk) before investing. If it's not there, or if it's a clone of a real firm, don't invest.

From 7 October 2024, the Payment Systems Regulator introduced mandatory reimbursement rules for APP fraud made by Faster Payments or CHAPS. Banks are now required to reimburse most APP fraud victims who weren't found to have been grossly negligent, up to £85,000 per claim. Both the sending and receiving bank share responsibility for the loss. Report fraud to your bank immediately — the quicker you act, the higher the chance of recovery (money can sometimes be frozen before it is moved on). You can call 159 to be put through to your bank's fraud team. Also report to: Report Fraud, which replaced Action Fraud in England, Wales and Northern Ireland in December 2025 (reportfraud.police.uk or 0300 123 2040; in Scotland call Police Scotland on 101), the FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) for investment fraud, and HMRC for tax scams. Keep all evidence — screenshots, emails, transaction records.

The most effective personal protections: use Confirmation of Payee (CoP) — when making bank transfers, this verifies the account name matches the sort code and account number; never transfer money based on a phone call alone, even if the caller seems convincing — hang up and call back on a verified number; agree a family code word so you can check whether an urgent message from a relative is genuine; use strong, unique passwords and two-factor authentication (2FA) on all financial accounts; never share one-time passcodes or passwords (banks will never ask for these); and pay by credit card for online purchases from sellers you do not know, as Section 75 and chargeback give extra protection that a bank transfer does not.