What authorised push payment fraud is, and how it differs from card fraud

Authorised push payment fraud, usually shortened to APP fraud, happens when you are tricked into authorising a payment yourself. The money leaves your account with your own approval, which is exactly why these cases are argued over: the bank's systems worked, and the deception happened before the payment was made.

How the money actually moves

Almost every case follows the same three stages. First, contact: a text, an email, a call, a marketplace listing or a message from an account you already trust. Second, a reason to move fast: a "compromised" account, an invoice that has changed bank details, a deposit that must be paid tonight or the flat goes to someone else. Third, the transfer, made by you, from your own banking app, often while you are still on the phone.

• Bank or police impersonation: you are told your account is compromised and asked to move money to a "safe account". No bank operates safe accounts.
• Invoice redirection: a genuine builder, solicitor or supplier's email thread is hijacked and the account number is changed at the last minute.
• Purchase scams: a car, a puppy, a festival ticket or a holiday let that does not exist, always paid by transfer rather than card.
• Investment scams: a broker who reports gains for weeks and then asks for a fee before you can withdraw.
• Romance and long-game fraud: months of contact before the first request for money.

Why the payment usually clears

Faster Payments settle in seconds. Once the money lands, the receiving account — often a "mule" account opened with stolen or borrowed identity documents — is emptied within minutes and moved on through several more accounts, frequently into crypto. Recovery of the actual cash is rare. What you are claiming is not usually the money back from the fraudster; it is reimbursement from the bank that sent it.

What decides a reimbursement claim

Under the reimbursement rules that now apply to Faster Payments, a bank should refund most consumers, small businesses and charities and should tell you its decision quickly, normally within five business days. The arguments that come up are narrow: whether you ignored a specific, targeted warning; whether the claim is a genuine scam rather than a private dispute; and whether the payment falls inside the rules at all.

What to do, in order

1. Call your bank. Use the number on your card, not a number from a message. Ask them to attempt recall and to log the case as a scam.
2. Report to Action Fraud (actionfraud.police.uk), or Police Scotland on 101, and keep the reference.
3. Preserve everything — messages, adverts, screenshots, the account details you paid, the times of each call.
4. If the bank refuses or goes silent, complain in writing, then take it to the Financial Ombudsman Service (financial-ombudsman.org.uk). It is free.
5. For questions about whether a firm is authorised, the FCA consumer helpline is 0800 111 6768, also free.

What this article is not

This is a description of how a category of fraud works and which free routes exist. It is not advice on your own case, and we never assess whether anyone has a claim.