What are Authorised Push Payment scams?

APP scams happen when someone is tricked into sending money to a fraudster posing as a genuine payee.

Every year thousands of individuals and businesses fall victim to APP scams, which can have a devastating impact on people's lives. Figures show £459.7 million was lost to APP scams in 2023.

The PSR expects to see more action from financial institutions to stop these scams from happening and to better protect people if they do fall victim.

There are various types of APP scams which might include impersonation or romance scams, for example.

Getting the right protections for everyone

In May 2022, Treasury announced its intention to legislate to allow the PSR to require victim reimbursement for APP scams and in June 2023, this legislation came into effect with the Financial Services and Markets Bill receiving Royal Assent.

Following a number of consultations, we published our June policy statement setting out our policy position on the reimbursement requirement for APP scams and in December 2023 our final policy statement finalising points in the June paper, not superseding it.

The new requirements will prompt a step change in the culture of payments to improve fraud prevention and focus all firms on protecting people.

  • Everyone making a payment via Faster Payments or CHAPS from one UK bank account to another will be covered.
  • All payment firms will be incentivised to take action, with both sending and receiving firms splitting the costs of reimbursement 50:50.
  • Customers will be more protected under consistent minimum standards, with most APP fraud victims being reimbursed within five business days and additional protections offered for vulnerable customers.

The PSR is also leading on a wider set of changes, including:

  • The regular publication of data on how well firms are protecting customers.
  • The continued rollout of Confirmation of Payee (CoP) - the name checking service designed to help prevent APP scams and misdirected payments.
  • Supporting and encouraging improved intelligence sharing among payment firms to spot fraudulent transactions and stop them from happening.

We have also collected data which shows where APP scams originate. Later in 2024, we will publish this data to raise awareness about the different ways fraudsters can target victims, such as through social media platforms.

For consumers

We have published information about what our new reimbursement measures mean for consumers. The PSR is unable to investigate individual cases of fraud. If you have fallen victim to a scam, you should first contact your bank, building society or other relevant financial organisation to report any loss.

Your bank will investigate the issue and get back to you to let you know the decision they have made. If you are unhappy with their response, you can take the matter further by referring it to the Financial Ombudsman Service. You can find information about the complaints they can consider on their website. You can also contact the Financial Ombudsman Service directly to register your complaint.

You may also wish to reach out to the following organisations:

We have additionally published some frequently asked questions, which may help answer your query or point you in the right direction.