UK Finance
Visit UK FinanceAuthorised Push Payment Reimbursement
From 7 October 2024, individuals, microenterprises (enterprises that employ fewer than ten persons and that have either an annual turnover or annual balance sheet total that does not exceed €2 million) and registered charities will be eligible to apply for full reimbursement when they have fallen victim to an Authorised Push Payment (APP) fraud. APP fraud is where a fraudster convinces you to transfer money to another account. APP reimbursement applies to fraudulent payments made via Faster Payment or CHAPS.
There are a number of exclusions to these rules including where we believe a customer has acted with gross negligence, committed first party fraud (e.g. knowingly omitted or changed key information or made a false claim) or has failed to comply with the consumer standard of caution. The consumer standard of caution requires customers to:
- Have regard for interventions given by us, as your payment service provider, or provided by a national competent authority such as the Police
- Promptly report to us upon learning of the scam (no later than 13 months after the fraudulent transactions)
- Comply with any appropriate information requests from The Cumberland to support the assessment of the claim
- Report to the Police or allow us to report it on your behalf
Civil disputes and any payments sent or received by credit unions, municipal banks and national savings banks are not covered by the mandatory reimbursement scheme.
If you believe you have fallen victim to an APP fraud please contact us immediately on 01228 403141 or visit your local branch.
For further information and fraud advice please have a look at our "How to Protect Yourself from Fraud" leaflet which is available here or from your local branch.
Key Term Glossary
Many words and phrases used in relation to fraud can be confusing. To help you understand some of the key words, phrases and types of APP scams we have created the useful glossary below.
Authorised Push Payment (APP) scams happen when you are tricked into sending money to a fraudster who is claiming to be a genuine payee. APP scams are specific to payments made by Faster Payment or CHAPS.
Investment scams tend to focus on Bitcoin or other digital currencies, often claiming to be endorsed by celebrities. You will likely be contacted out of the blue or they will be advertised on social media. Fraudsters claiming to be financial advisors will apply pressure to make you rush into making payments, promise that you unrealistic returns and force you to pay fees you weren’t aware of claiming it is tax to release your funds.
If you are looking to invest, we suggest researching any firm and any financial advisors on the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) Register.
Civil disputes occur when you have made a payment to a genuine business or supplier for goods or services and you have not received them, they are defective or you are otherwise dissatisfied with the service you have received.
Civil disputes are not covered by APP Reimbursement and you should pursue these claims direct with the company, via trading standards or through small claims court.
Fraudsters will use social media platforms, dating sites and online gaming to speak to people over long periods of time to gain their trust. Eventually, they will either directly ask for money or put you in a position where you want to help and offer to send them money. Never send money to someone you have only spoken to online and never met in person.
APP reimbursement is applicable to:
- Individuals
- Microenterprises - Enterprises that employs fewer than ten persons and have either an annual turnover or annual balance sheet total that does not exceed €2 million)
- Charities - A body whose annual income is less than £1 million per year and is a charity as defined by the Charities Act 2011, Charities and Trustees Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 or the Charities Act (Northern Ireland) 2008).
Fraudsters will advertise and sell non-existent products for discounted prices to attract buyers. They tend to use social media or online selling sites to do this and once the payment has been received they will block contact with the buyer.
Fraudsters will also take advantage of popular events such as in demand gigs or Christmas to take advantage of people who are looking for a good deal.
APP Reimbursement applies to cases with a maximum amount of £85,000. If you have fallen victim to a scam which totals more than £85,000 you should still report all the transactions to us so we can complete a full investigation.
Fraudsters will often impersonate genuine organisations such as banks, the Police or HMRC to trick you into sending money to them. Common themes they use are:
- Banks – there has been fraudulent transactions on your account and you need to transfer your money to a “safe account”. We will NEVER ask you to transfer money away from your account, we can take all necessary precautions to protect your account without asking you to do anything!
- Police – They will claim to be investigating your bank or the activity of fraudsters and ask you to complete a transfer to help them track the fraudsters. The Police will never contact you out of the blue and ask for your assistance in an ongoing investigation!
- HMRC - Fraudsters will often use automated calls stating HMRC are filing a lawsuit against you and to press 1 to speak to a caseworker. You will then be transferred through to a fraudster who will encourage you to make a payment for the outstanding amount. If you ever receive a call from someone claiming to be “HMRC” you should end the call immediately and contact HMRC through the contact details found on their website.
Me to Me payments are where you send money between two accounts that you hold with two different Payment Service Providers.
If you have control over both accounts you will not be eligible for reimbursement under APP Reimbursement. If you send money from the second account to a fraudster, you should contact the provider of your second account so that they can raise a claim for you. If you send money from your Cumberland account to another account in your name but the fraudster has taken control of your second account, you will be eligible for reimbursement under APP Reimbursement.
Invoice fraud occurs when fraudsters send fake invoices claiming to be from a real business you have worked with. They sometimes hack the emails of one of the parties and continue the conversation pretending to be the business. If an invoice has already been sent they may say they are having issues with the account details provided and ask you to send the payment to a different account. If an invoice hasn’t yet been issued they may create one with fraudulent details included.
We would always recommend speaking to the business over the phone or in person to confirm the payment details when the invoice has been sent via email.
Additional Information
If you would like to find out more information about Authorised Push Payment Reimbursement please visit the UK Finance or Take Five.
