Emma RadmoreFOS has noted that the number of complaints it receives about scams generally is increasing – with a 17% increase in APP fraud complaints, but also a higher proportion of “complex” scam complaints, for instance about investment and crypto related scams. It is also seeing more complaints that contain features of more than one type of fraud or scam, exemplified often in romance or “safe account” scams or scams based on buying goods that don’t exist.
FOS is calling on banks to put in place strong anti-fraud measures, and has noted that it is receiving more complaints about entities that have not signed up to the CRM Code than about those that have.
The FOS uphold rate for fraud complaints is 45%, significantly higher than its average rate.