Independent UK reporting on scams, fraud and financial harm
Reference
Every explainer opens with a direct two-sentence answer, then the detail. Three clusters cover how the scams work, what authorisation and warnings mean, and how redress works.
How each kind of fraud is run, what the approach looks like and where the money goes.
Explainer · 23 Aug 2026
Follow a single stolen payment through the accounts it passes on the way out. The reason speed matters so much to your bank is that, after roughly ninety minutes, there is usually nothing left to recover.
Explainer · 12 Aug 2026
Payment firms must assess most APP fraud claims within five business days and reimburse eligible customers. The rules set out narrow grounds for refusing.
By Daniel Okoye
Explainer · 10 Aug 2026
A clone uses an authorised firm's name and reference number with its own phone number, email address or website. The authorised firm is a victim too.
Explainer · 8 Aug 2026
Impersonation calls work by creating a deadline. No genuine organisation asks you to move money to keep it safe.
By Daniel Okoye
Explainer · 7 Aug 2026
Most investment fraud follows the same six steps. Recognising the step you are on is more useful than trying to spot a fake website.
Explainer · 6 Aug 2026
An authorised push payment happens when you are tricked into sending money yourself. Because you pressed send, the protections are different from those on a card payment.
By Daniel Okoye
Authorisation, clone firms, the FCA Warning List and what a listing does and does not mean.
Explainer · 11 Aug 2026
The Warning List records firms the FCA believes are operating without authorisation, or copying an authorised firm. Absence from it proves nothing.
Explainer · 10 Aug 2026
A clone uses an authorised firm's name and reference number with its own phone number, email address or website. The authorised firm is a victim too.
Explainer · 9 Aug 2026
Authorisation means a firm is permitted to carry out specified regulated activities. It is not a quality rating and it does not guarantee your money back.
The free routes to complain, escalate and be reimbursed, and the limits of each.
Explainer · 23 Aug 2026
Follow a single stolen payment through the accounts it passes on the way out. The reason speed matters so much to your bank is that, after roughly ninety minutes, there is usually nothing left to recover.
Explainer · 14 Aug 2026
Your bank comes first because only it can attempt to freeze the receiving account. Action Fraud records the crime for policing purposes.
Explainer · 13 Aug 2026
The Ombudsman is free, independent and decides cases on what is fair and reasonable. You complain to the firm first.
By Daniel Okoye
Explainer · 12 Aug 2026
Payment firms must assess most APP fraud claims within five business days and reimburse eligible customers. The rules set out narrow grounds for refusing.
By Daniel Okoye
