Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an estimate of the total amount banks have repaid customers that have been victims of (a) fraud and (b) payment scams.

The Government takes fraud and scams very seriously and is dedicated to protecting the public from this devastating crime. Tackling fraud and scams requires a unified and co-ordinated response from government, law enforcement and the private sector to better protect the public and businesses, reduce the impact on victims, and increase the disruption and prosecution of fraudsters.

According to data published by the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) on 31 October, the fourteen largest payment service providers reimbursed a total of £237,219,623 of losses from authorised push payment (APP) fraud. Reimbursement rates varied significantly by firm. As part of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023, the Government legislated to enable the PSR to mandate payment service providers to reimburse victims of APP scams. This will ensure that victims of APP scams are reimbursed on a more consistent basis and ensure greater consumer protection. The Government also intends to introduce legislation to allow payment service providers to slow down payments processing when there is a reasonable suspicion of fraud. The Government will introduce this legislation in due course.

Beyond this, the Government has taken significant action to address this issue. In May 2022, the Government published its fraud strategy, setting out a number of new measures. For example, the Government announced it will extend the ban on cold calling to cover all consumer financial services and products, and recently consulted on the design and scope of this ban. The Government has also taken action to address fraudulent activity being hosted online through the Online Safety Act 2023, which includes a new standalone duty requiring large internet firms to remove fraudulent content on their platforms.