Terms and Conditions

Authorised Push Payment (APP) Scams

What is an APP scam?

An authorised push payment (APP) scam happens when you are tricked into sending money to a fraudster who is posing as a genuine payee.  

The fraudster often tries to persuade you to make the payment in a hurry. They make you panic before you have time to think it through properly, so you authorise the payment and do not check as thoroughly as you might normally do to make sure the person you are paying is actually the person you think they are.

What type of APP scams are there?

There are lots of different types of APP scams. Here are just a few examples.

Romance scams The fraudster creates a fake profile on a dating site or on social media to build a relationship with a person. Once the fraudster has built up the trust of the person, they ask them for money for different reasons. It could be to cover unexpected costs or for fake investments. 

Investment scams The fraudster convinces the person to transfer money for fake investments or in cryptocurrencies. They often promise high returns and use fake websites or social media profiles to appear real. 

Purchase scams The fraudster advertises goods or services that don't exist. The person may be encouraged to make payments upfront, but the promised goods or services are never delivered.

Impersonation scams The fraudster pretends to be a person or business you trust. This could be someone from your payment service provider, a government representative, such as HMRC or a family member. They persuade the person to transfer money, for what the fraudster claims is for urgent or official purposes. 

Fraudsters are creative and consistently come up with different ways to get you to part with your money, so it is important to be vigilant.  

The key difference to this type of scam from other scams is that the fraudster imitates someone else and tricks you into giving permission to your payment service provider to make a payment to them.

What can I do to protect myself?

Listen to warnings It is important that you pay attention to warnings: if we, another payment service provider, the media, the government or industry body gives you a warning about a possible scam, you should pause. Take the time to check who you are dealing with, be satisfied they are genuine and check the account where the payment is being sent. 

Tell us If something doesn’t feel right, or you have concerns about the person contacting you, let us know straight away.  

Let us help you The more information you can share about the scam the better.  You should also report it to the police, and/or allow us to do that. 

Can I get my money back if I am the victim of an APP Scam?

It depends on the circumstances around the scam and when it took place. 

The APP scam reimbursement rules apply to persons who are individuals, or small businesses, only certain types of payment transactions, (faster payments and CHAPs payments) that are made from one UK account to another account in the UK. 

There is a time limit as well. The rules came into effect on 7 October 2024, so only payments made after that date may be reimbursed. Also, you must make a claim for reimbursement within 13 months of the final payment made to a fraudster as part of the same scam. 

Read the APP scam reimbursement procedure rules below for more information on eligibility and how to make a claim. 

What are the APP Scam Reimbursement rules?

An APP scam is when a fraudster uses a fraudulent or dishonest act or course of conduct to manipulate, deceive or persuade you into transferring funds from your Account to a relevant account not controlled by you, where:

• the recipient is not who you intended to pay, or the payment is not for the purpose you intended; and
• you are not party to the fraud or dishonesty.

The APP Scam Reimbursement procedure applies to you if you are using our service,

• as an individual for personal purposes, or 
• for business purposes and you are a sole trader, microenterprise (an enterprise that employs fewer than ten (10) persons and that has either an annual turnover or annual balance sheet total that does not exceed €2 million) or a charity (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 Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 or the Charities Act (Northern Ireland) 2008).

The rules apply to eligible transactions.  Eligible transactions are transactions that have been authorised by an eligible person (see above) and the transaction has all the following features:

• It is executed through the Faster Payments Scheme (which includes a payment initiation service) or the Clearing House Automated Payment System CHAPS.
• It is authorised by you and you are an eligible person.
• It is executed by us in the UK.
• The payment is received in a relevant account in the UK that is not controlled by you.
• The payment is not to the recipient that you intended or is not for the purpose you intended. 

The APP Scam Reimbursement procedure does not apply to:

• Civil disputes, such as where you have paid a legitimate supplier for goods or services, but you have not received them, they are defective in some way, or you are otherwise dissatisfied with the supplier. 
• Any payment transaction made using a different payment system such as by cash, cheque, or card e.g. Mastercard, or if you send funds to a crypto exchange and then pay a fraudster via a crypto currency.
• Where someone takes money from your Account without your permission (this is an unauthorised payment).
• Where you have given someone permission to make a payment on your behalf and they have taken more money out than you agreed they could (this is an unauthorised payment).   
• Payments that are sent or received by credit unions, municipal banks and national savings banks.
• On - us payments (payments made to another account issued by us).
• International payments.
• Any payments made for unlawful purposes. 

From 7 October 2024 onwards, if you are a victim of an APP scam you must contact Customer Services as quickly as possible and in any event by no later than thirteen (13) months after the final payment is made to the fraudster as part of the same scam. We will promptly investigate your claim. 

You agree that we may report your APP scam to the police, or if we request you to do so, that you report it directly to them. If you report it directly to the police, you will receive a crime reference number which we will require you to provide to us.  You should gather any evidence you have to support your claim and provide this to us. We may request further information from you to help us assess the background to your claim. 

Where possible, we will provide an initial indication to you whether your claim falls within the scope of these APP Scam Reimbursement requirements (as set out in this document). 

When we assess whether an APP scam claim is reimbursable, we will take into consideration whether you took into account any action or intervention that we, any governmental, regulatory or payment system body, such as the Financial Conduct Authority, Payment Systems Regulator, or Pay.UK and/or any law enforcement body such as the police, made in respect of such payment(s). For example, warnings communicated to you about scams and suggested steps to take to protect yourself from APP scams.   

We will consider each claim and your situation on a case-by-case basis. We will consider the evidence presented by you, any information available from the receiving payment service provider, and where relevant a third party such as the police.

For each APP scam claim you submit, we reserve the right to charge you a claim excess of up to £100 on reimbursable APP scam claims.   The amount will depend on the circumstances of the claim.

We will reimburse you the APP scam amount, less the claim excess of up to £100 (if applicable) up to a maximum amount of £85,000 within five (5) Business Days unless we need to gather additional information:

• from you, the payment service provider who received the funds forming part of the scam, law enforcement or other relevant parties to assess the claim and your circumstance.
• where relevant, to verify that a claims management company is submitting a legitimate claim – for example, validating the authorisation from an individual to submit a claim.
• in cases where multi-step fraud cases have occurred, gather additional information from the other payment service providers involved. 

You will not be entitled to reimbursement of an APP scam claim where:

• you have acted fraudulently (‘first-party fraud’); or
• you have acted with gross negligence. 

If we refuse your APP Scam claim and you do not agree with the outcome, you may have the opportunity to a pursue a claim via the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS).

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