National Fraud Helpline is advising fraud victims to always report a scam and not to miss out on claiming back the money they have lost.
The no win, no fee fraud lawyers say millions of people blame themselves for being scammed and as a consequence lose out on valuable compensation.
Fraud Lawyer, Martin Richardson, said that many fraud victims are put off from making a claim because off general scam warnings issued by banks before an online payment is made.
However, Mr Richardson was keen to emphasise that these blanket warnings do not absolve banks from having to reimburse scam victims.
From October 7, this year, new Payment Systems Regulator rules require all payment service providers, such a banks, to reimburse victims of “authorised push payment” fraud, where people have been duped into sending money to scammers through electronic online transfers. Frauds committed before this date are also covered by a voluntary code sign up to by the banks.
Mr Richardson said: ‘It is really important to report a scam as there may well be a good chance that you can reclaim all of your money from the bank.
‘We speak to people who think that because a warning has popped up on their phone asking them if they are sure that the payment they are about to make is not a scam that it means there is nothing they can do.
‘In fact, that general warning is not specific enough to absolve the banks from having to reimburse fraud victims.
‘Many people also feel ashamed that they have been scammed but they really shouldn’t blame themselves. The scammers are often incredibly sophisticated and very clever on convincing people to part with their money.’
A Trading Standards report last year said that fewer than a third of scam victims report the fact that they have lost money. The research showed that when people realised they’d become a victim of a scam, the most common feelings were being ‘angry’ with themselves, (46%), feeling ‘stupid’ (40%) and ‘embarrassed’ (38%).
Mr Richardson said: ‘Our staff are incredibly sympathetic to fraud victims and never judge them in any way. It doesn’t matter who you are, anyone can fall victim to fraud so always report a scam.’
Have you lost money to a scam? Contact National Fraud Helpline. Call 0333 0033218 or fill out our Claim Form.