'I lost £750 to a scammer, but Santander only reimbursed me £12.50'

I wanted my flat decorated, so I contacted a firm I’d used before. 

They sent a quote after visiting, but the email exchange was intercepted by a fraudster, who followed up using the same email address to request a £750 deposit. 

I believed it was genuine, so I paid the bank account details stated. The details matched Santander’s confirmation of payee, but I realised that I had been scammed when I got an email requesting the deposit be resent due to a ‘transaction failure’. 

I alerted Santander and Action Fraud. Santander reclaimed £12.50, but otherwise wouldn’t reimburse or accept any responsibility, as its pre-transaction alerts remind users to call and confirm transfer details before proceeding. 

I want to warn others about what the criminals are capable of.

Name supplied, London

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Faye Lipson, Which? senior researcher, says: 

It’s wise to confirm bank details before making a payment, especially where the details have  changed from previous payments.

However, if you’ve received the bank details from a previously trusted email address, the need to do this wouldn’t be obvious. 

Fraudsters know this, which is why they infiltrate the email accounts of reputable tradespeople and conveyancing solicitors – professions which frequently send out transfer requests.

Confirmation of payee simply confirms the account holder name you’ve entered matches the name on that account. It doesn’t guarantee the account holder is honest or that their payment requests are trustworthy. 

The name you paid didn’t match the name of the tradesperson or their company, which was a red flag. 

Soon banks will have to reimburse most victims of bank transfer scams. This change is expected to come into force from October this year. 

Santander said: ‘We have the utmost sympathy for the customer. We are unable to refund these transactions as they were fully authorised, and Santander provided a specific warning to the customer about this type of scam before the payments were made. 

‘We encourage all customers to check carefully that they are paying the correct account and if receiving account information via email to confirm details by phone or in person before making [a] payment, and if they are in any doubt at all, not to progress.’

Need to know

• If you have lost money to a scam you should notify your bank immediately by calling the number on the back of your card.
• Most banks are signed up to a code to protect victims of bank transfer fraud, known as the Contingent Reimbursement Model, but Which? has proven multiple times that reimbursement success is a lottery.
• Your bank will have to prove that you didn't carry out necessary checks to ensure you weren't paying a scammer, but it may ask you to provide evidence for its investigation.
• If your bank doesn't reimburse you or offers you a partial reimbursement, you should escalate a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman.
• If you paid a scammer via credit card you may be able to make a claim under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act, or use chargeback if you used your debit card.