Wise Scams
If you have have suffered a Wise scam, National Fraud Helpline can help you to recover your lost money.
Wise is a UK-based money transfer system that allows customers to send money overseas. It was formerly known as TransferWise.
Although Wise is not a bank it is a payment service provider which means it has a responsibility to prevent fraud.
We have successfully represented a lot of Wise customers who have lost money after falling victims to convincing scams and fraud.
In our experience, Wise scams often involve the fraudsters having information about the victim’s account details which helps to convince people to send over money.
We are also aware that a lot of Wise bank accounts have been frozen. Lawyers at our sister website Richardson Hartley Law can represent you to help get Wise accounts unlocked.
National Fraud Helpline solicitors helps Wise scam victims on a no win, no fee basis, and we will never ask for any fees to be paid up front. You only pay us if we are successful.
Are you the victim of a Wise scam? Contact National Fraud Helpline on 0333 0033218 or fill out our Claim Form.
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Common Signs Of A Wise Scam
Sadly, any payment service provider that helps you to transfer money will be used by scammers but Wise scams often have particular characteristics.
There are two common themes when it comes to Wise scams that should raise red flags.
- You are asked to set up a Wise account to transfer money because a bank you already havean account with has refused to send the money because they believe the transaction may be fraudulent.
- You are an existing Wise customer who receives a call from someone claiming to be from their fraud department. The person calling you will tell you that your account has been compromised and you need to move your money immediatley. Even though they know details about your account you shoull hang up the phone and call Wise’s fraud department directly. Wise will never ask you to move funds because your account has been compromised.
How and why we can recover money lost to a Wise scam.
Wise is a payment systems provider (psp) which means that is has an obligation to refund money lost to a scam.
Since 2018, many psps signed up to a the Contingent Reimbursement Model Code which meant that they agreed to refund scam victims who had sent money through Authorised Push Payments (APP), also known as faster payments. This includes Wise scam victims.
This system became obligatory from October 7, 2024, with a new mandatory model that all psps, including banks, were forced to abide by. It means that. from that date, fraud victims who lose money through an APP scam can recover their lost money unless they have been ‘grossly negiglent’ in send the money. Even if someone has been grossly negligent we can still reclaim the money if we can prove that they were vulnerable at the time of the scam. This allows us to recover lost funds for Wise scam victims.
If you have fallen victim to a Wise scam contact us to see if we can help. Call us on 0333 0033218 or fill out our Claim Form.
A typical Wise scam
Fiona, 53, had been a Wise customer for a number of years and never had any problems with her account. But one day she received a call from someone claiming to be from Wise’s fraud department and within minutes she had lost £14,000.
A number flashed up on Fiona’s phone and a calm but serious voice explained that they were calling from Wise’s fraud department.
Fiona was told that they needed to urgently move money out of her account as someone was trying to steal her funds.
The caller said that Fiona could check that they were genuinly from Wise’s fraud department by checking the phone number matched on the number on their website.
To reassure Fiona further, the caller appeared to have knowledge of recent transactions on her account.
Fiona understandably believed that she really was talking to Wise.
The caller then told Fiona that a verification number would appear in her Wise app and she needed to read it out in order for them to transfer her money to a safe place. Sure enough, a number came up and Fiona read it out to the person on the phone.
Fiona was then told that her money had been safely moved and that someone would be in touch in the coming days.
Initially Fiona felt relieved that the problem had been solved but a few hours later she started to have nagging doubts.
She rang Wise’s fraud department to ask what the next steps were for her to continue to be able to use her account.
To her horror, the fraud department told her they that they hadn’t called her and her account had been emptied.
It then became clear that Fiona was the victim of a Wise scam.
Fiona was told that scammers can easily mimic real phone numbers and it was clear this is what happened in her case.
But what remains more of a mystery is how the fraudsters were able to send a code to Fiona’s app and how they seemed to know her latest transactions.
National Fraud Helpline has a proven track record of helping people like Fiona recover money from scams. If you have fallen victim to a Wise scam contact us today to see how we can help.
We Highlighted The Wise Scam Issue In The Guardian
At National Fraud Helpline we regularly highlight individual scams in the media. We were delighted that The Guardian newspaper agreed to run a piece on the Wise savings scam.
The newspaper ran the article as part of its Scam Watch feature which warns readers about recent frauds.
Our senior partner, Martin Richardson, explained how he believed that thousands of people may have fallen victim to this scam.
He said: “The way that the scam has been set up suggests that the fraudsters have invested a lot of money into stealing victims’ money.
“They have a sophisticated system for answering calls and dealing with victims. They must also be spending a lot of money on advertising.
“This suggests that they are committing this fraud on an industrial scale.
“It’s very possible that there are thousands of Wise saving scam victims.”
Read the full Guardian newspaper article: Fake savings ads: ‘One of the most sophisticated scams we have seen’ | Scams | The Guardian
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