Impersonation Scams
Impersonation scams — where criminals pose as your bank, the police, HMRC, or a solicitor — are the largest single category of authorised push payment fraud. Almost every victim is entitled to reimbursement under the new PSR rules.
£239m
Lost to impersonation fraud in the UK in 2023
Up to £85k
Mandatory reimbursement per PSR claim
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Overview
Impersonation scams — where criminals pose as your bank, the police, HMRC, or a solicitor — are the largest single category of authorised push payment fraud. Almost every victim is entitled to reimbursement under the new PSR rules.
Warning Signs to Watch For
- • A call, text, or email from "your bank" about suspicious activity
- • Instructions to move money to a "safe account" in your own name
- • A spoofed caller-ID matching a real bank or government number
- • Pressure to act immediately and not discuss with anyone
- • A follow-up message instructing you to ignore Confirmation of Payee warnings
- • A claim that the police or NCA are involved in a covert operation
The "Safe Account" Playbook
The most damaging impersonation scam is the "safe account" attack. The criminal, posing as your bank or the police, convinces you that fraud is in progress on your account and that funds must be moved "for safety". The destination is of course controlled by the fraudster. Sophisticated variants involve spoofed caller-ID and even fake "crime reference numbers".
Why You Are Entitled To A Refund
The whole structure of impersonation fraud is to deceive victims into authorising payments. Both the CRM Code and the new PSR mandatory reimbursement rules recognise this and require banks to refund blameless victims, generally up to £85,000 per claim. Banks frequently refuse on first request — we challenge those refusals through formal complaints and FOS escalation.
Our Approach
Document
We preserve the call records, messages, and bank-app screenshots that build the complaint.
Assess
We identify the bank's failures around CoP, fraud-pattern detection, and customer protection.
Pursue
We file CRM, PSR, and FOS complaints to compel reimbursement.
Recover
We secure your refund and pursue any losses above the cap separately.