Will my bank refund me if I was tricked into transferring money to a scammer?

Being tricked into sending money yourself is authorised push payment (APP) fraud — investment and romance scams, purchase scams that never deliver, and impersonation scams where a caller claiming to be your bank, HMRC or the police tells you to move money to a "safe account". Since 7 October 2024 reimbursement is no longer a matter of bank goodwill: the Payment Systems Regulator's rules make it mandatory.

What the rules give you

• Reimbursement up to £85,000 per claim from the sending bank, with the sending and receiving banks splitting the cost 50/50.
• A decision within five business days of your report, though the bank can stop the clock for further investigation, up to 35 business days.
• A £100 excess that you bear — unless you are a vulnerable customer, who pays nothing.
• Cover for Faster Payments and CHAPS sent from a UK consumer account. International transfers, and payments to your own accounts at other banks, fall outside the scheme.

Banks can refuse on narrow grounds only: a claim made more than 13 months later, first-party fraud (you knew the payment was fraudulent), or gross negligence. Gross negligence is a far higher bar than ordinary carelessness — falling for a convincing impersonation is not it, and the Financial Ombudsman has consistently held the bar high. Vulnerable customers, including people affected by ill health, bereavement, coercive control or language barriers, are protected from the gross negligence exception altogether. Tell your bank if that applies to you and keep a written record that you did.

Making the claim

Report it to your bank's official fraud channel the moment you realise, and get a reference number — that report starts the five-day clock. Report to Action Fraud at actionfraud.police.uk or 0300 123 2040, which is also required, and give the bank everything you have: emails, screenshots, the fraudster's contact details, transaction references. If the bank refuses or reduces the payment, get its reasons in writing, complain formally citing the PSR rules, then take it to the Financial Ombudsman Service within six months of the bank's final response; the ombudsman regularly overturns weak refusals. If you paid by credit card rather than by transfer, section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act may also make the card provider jointly liable for purchases between £100 and £30,000.