Card fraud or scam in the UK: can you get your money back?

Finding a payment you did not make, or realising that you paid a scammer, is stressful. The right next step depends on what happened and how you paid. This article follows two Citizens Advice pages, which set out what to do and when a refund may be possible.

Citizens Advice says its advice applies to England, with separate advice for Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. This article cannot promise a refund. Each situation is decided by your bank, card provider or the Financial Ombudsman.

The three things to do after a scam

Citizens Advice says that if you have been scammed, you need to:

1. protect yourself from further risks;
2. check if you can get your money back; and
3. report the scam.

If you saw the scam online, or in an email or text, Citizens Advice offers an online tool that asks questions and gives advice from your answers.

Protect yourself from further risks

What you need to do depends on what has happened. Citizens Advice lists these situations.

• You feel threatened. Report it to the police immediately by calling 999.
• The scammer contacts you again. If they come to your door, call you or send a message, ignore them, but keep a record of what happened so you can report it.
• You gave the scammer access to your computer. They may have infected it with a virus or stolen passwords and financial information. Reset your passwords, tell your bank your financial information might have been stolen and update your anti-virus software. You could also ask an IT professional to check the computer.
• You transferred money in the last 24 hours. Tell the police immediately by calling 101.
• Your account details or PIN may have been stolen. Contact your bank immediately so it can protect your account. Afterwards, keep an eye on your statements for unusual transactions and check your credit score for applications you do not recognise.
• Your password may have been stolen. Change it as soon as possible, and change it on any other account where you used the same one. Some sites offer two-factor authentication as extra security.
• Your account may have been hacked. Citizens Advice points to the National Cyber Security Centre for advice on recovering a hacked account.

If there is a payment you do not recognise

Contact your bank immediately if there is a payment from your bank account that you do not recognise, which Citizens Advice calls an "unauthorised transaction". The same applies if you used your debit card and more money was taken than you expected.

Explain what happened and ask whether you can get a refund. If you are not happy with how the bank deals with your claim, you can complain to it. If it has been 8 weeks since you complained and you have not got your money back, you can contact the Financial Ombudsman. You can also do this if the bank has sent a letter saying it will not take any action, sometimes called a final response letter. Citizens Advice says that if the ombudsman decides you were treated unfairly, it has legal powers to put things right.

If you bought something from a scammer

You paid by card or PayPal

If you paid for something you did not receive, you might be able to get your money back. Your card provider can ask the seller's bank to refund the money. This is the "chargeback scheme".

• Debit card: you can use chargeback however much you paid.
• Credit card, item over £100 and under £30,000: you might be able to claim under the Consumer Credit Act. This is a "Section 75 claim".
• Credit card, item under £100: you cannot use Section 75, but you can use chargeback.
• PayPal account: open a dispute with the seller on the PayPal website.

You paid by bank transfer on or after 7 October 2024

From 7 October 2024 there are new rules for banks and payment service providers, including building societies, e-money firms such as Revolut and savings providers.

Contact your bank or payment provider straight away, tell them what happened and ask whether you can get a refund. Give them any information they ask for while they look at your claim.

According to Citizens Advice:

• Your bank or provider should usually refund you if you sent the money to a UK account by Faster Payments or CHAPS.
• They do not have to refund you if you used another method such as BACS or Swift, or if you sent the money abroad.
• Your bank must refund you up to £85,000. You should usually get your money back within 5 working days, but it might take up to 35 working days.
• The bank or provider might charge a fee of £100, which they take off your refund.
• You might not get a refund if the provider can prove you were not careful enough when you made the payment, or that you did not help them or give them the information they asked for.

If you think the outcome is unfair, follow the bank's complaints process. If it is not sorted out in 8 weeks, or you get a final response letter, you can take your case to the Financial Ombudsman.

You paid by bank transfer before 7 October 2024

Your bank or building society should refund you if it was registered under the Contingent Reimbursement Model Code (CRM Code). Citizens Advice says the code applied to transactions made from 28 May 2019 to 6 October 2024, and you can check whether your bank was registered on the Lending Standards Board website. Contact your bank straight away and ask for a refund under the code. The same complaint route applies.

You paid by Direct Debit

Citizens Advice says you should be able to get a full refund under the scheme that protects Direct Debit payments. It links to the Direct Debit website for details.

You used a money transfer service, vouchers or gift cards

Citizens Advice says it is unlikely you will get your money back if you paid through a wire service such as MoneyGram, PayPoint or Western Union, or with vouchers or gift cards. To protect yourself in future, never give the numbers on the back of a gift card or voucher to anyone you do not know. If you use a money transfer service again, only send money to someone you know.

Report the scam, even without a refund

Citizens Advice says reporting a scam helps enforcement authorities track down and stop the criminals responsible. It suggests reporting even if you have not got your money back yet. Its pages link to a guide on how to report a scam, which this article does not reproduce.

If you cannot get your money back, Citizens Advice also points to advice on getting emotional support after a scam, and to advice on dealing with debts if you need it.

Helping someone else

If you are helping someone who has been scammed, you may need to manage their bank account to stop payments or claim money back. Citizens Advice says the person needs to fill in a form giving you permission, known as a third party mandate. Most banks publish one on their website. For managing more than one account, or for a long time, power of attorney may be needed.

Where a scan can help

Once the immediate steps are done, you may want to see what is visible about you online. Remove Me offers a free scan with no account needed. You enter your details, and the service searches publicly visible web results, known public data breaches (via Have I Been Pwned) and a register of data brokers, then shows a report. A 6-digit code sent by e-mail unlocks it. The scan does not recover money, and Remove Me does not yet send erasure requests on your behalf.

The Remove Me team