MP urges minister to give new bank fraud reimbursement scheme teeth to reimburse past victims

In Parliament this morning, South Lakes MP Tim Farron made the case for a new reimbursement scheme to be made available to past victims of online banking scams.

Last week, a new code of conduct which will cover losses for people who have been tricked into transferring bank payments to fraudsters came into force.

Speaking during a debate on telephone and online scams, Tim referenced three examples of constituents who had been victims of financial fraud - an early-retired teacher scammed out of £25,000, a young man scammed out of nearly £50,000 and a couple scammed out of £200,000 - none of these would benefit from the new scheme.

Tim said: "They have all had their lives trashed, and, in one case, their retirement turned upside-down. The impact on the victims of online and telephone fraud is colossal, and we need to be aware of it.

"Of course, all the people I have spoken about-indeed, all the people we will talk about today-are historical victims. Whether they were scammed in the last few weeks or the last few years, they stand to get not a penny of compensation.

"Will the minister backdate the code and ensure that it has teeth, so that historical victims of authorised push payment scams are compensated, as well as future victims?"

In response, the Home Office minister Victoria Atkins said: "I will raise that with the Minister for Security and Economic Crime.

"There are no plans to force banks to apply the code retrospectively, but there are certainly no rules or laws in place that prevent banks from making good-will payments. We also encourage victims of APP scams who have not been compensated by their bank to lodge a complaint with the financial ombudsman."