What are APP scams?
An Authorised Push Payment (APP) scam is when a criminal tricks you into authorising a payment from your own bank account into theirs. Because you made the transfer, banks have historically argued they had no obligation to refund you — but the law and regulation in the UK have changed dramatically.
Common types of APP scam
- Investment scams — fake brokers, fraudulent crypto platforms, "guaranteed return" schemes.
- Safe account scams — criminals impersonating your bank, the police, HMRC, or the FCA, telling you to "move your money to a safe account".
- Romance scams — someone you met online builds a relationship and then asks for money, often urgently.
- Purchase scams — paying for goods or services that never arrive.
- Invoice and CEO scams — fraudsters intercept emails and substitute their own bank details on a real invoice.
- Job-task scams — fake remote-work platforms that require deposits to "unlock" earnings.
Your rights as a victim
The CRM Code
The voluntary Contingent Reimbursement Model (CRM) Code, signed by most major UK banks, requires signatory firms to reimburse victims of APP fraud where they were not at fault. Many initial bank rejections under the CRM Code do not stand up at the Financial Ombudsman Service.
The mandatory APP reimbursement scheme
From October 2024, the Payment Systems Regulator's mandatory reimbursement rules require receiving and sending banks (in Faster Payments transactions) to share liability for most APP fraud, with reimbursement obligations on both sides.
FCA Principles for Businesses
Under FCA Principles 6 and 12, banks must treat customers fairly and act to deliver good outcomes for retail customers. A failure to spot and intervene in obvious scam patterns can be a breach.
Why claims succeed (or fail)
The strongest claims usually involve: a vulnerable customer, large unusual transactions that should have triggered the bank's fraud alerts, weak or generic warnings from the bank, and clear evidence the customer was deceived. Cases tend to fail when there is unambiguous evidence the customer ignored explicit, scam-specific warnings — but even then, the picture is often more nuanced than the bank's first response suggests.
What we do
We assess your case under each applicable framework, draft a detailed complaint to your bank, handle the back-and-forth, and escalate to the Financial Ombudsman Service where the bank refuses or undervalues your claim. You only pay if we recover money for you — see our fees page.
Get a free assessment
Start with the free case check on our homepage — about two minutes, and a specialist calls you back within 24 hours. Prefer to message? Send us a WhatsApp (opens in a new tab), or email support@onlinerefundee.com.