Fraud markers

Fraud-prevention agencies hold information about people who’ve been: 

• reported for committing fraud in the financial services sector, and 

• the victim of fraud or identity theft  

When a financial business passes information to a fraud-prevention agency, they add a 'marker' to the appropriate file. Fraud-prevention markers are a valuable tool in the fight against fraud, but when mistakes are made, customers may find: 

• they can't open a bank account 

• their bank account is closed, and they can’t open another one 

• their mortgage application is rejected  

We can’t look at complaints against fraud prevention agencies themselves. But we can look at complaints about financial businesses that have passed information to a fraud prevention agency. 

The rules about responding to customers in cases of fraud and scams are set out in DISP 1.6.2A. In summary, you must respond within 15 working days, either: 

• with a ‘final response’ telling your customer whether or not you accept the complaint and what you’re going to do about it, or  

• to let them know you’re still looking into what happened and will send a final response within 35 days. 

While there are several fraud prevention agencies in the UK, the largest is CIFAS, who set out a set of National Fraud Database Principles on their website. 

Good complaint handling can repair a relationship, help build trust and confidence in financial services, and give customers a better understanding of your financial products. 

You should ensure your complaint handling teams fully understand: 

• The requirements of the Consumer Duty  

• What to send us when we're dealing with a complaint about your firm 

 Our decisions database holds all the final decisions we’ve published since 1 April 2013. They're anonymised to protect the identity of complainants but are based on real-life complaints, so will give you a good picture of how we resolve disputes. 

Our complaints data will give you an idea of the volume of complaints we receive and resolve, and the proportion that we have upheld in consumers’ favour. 

We only look at complaints you've had an opportunity to look into first. If the consumer is unhappy with your decision, or you don't respond to them within the time limits, they can come to us.  

Each case is different, so what we require will vary. But we’ll look at the facts and evidence from both you and your customer, what we consider will usually include: 

• relevant laws and regulations 

• regulators’ rules in place when the event happened, including the Consumer Duty [link] 

• guidance, standards and codes of practice in place at the time of the event 

We'll look at whether:  

• it was fair and reasonable for you to report your customer's information to a fraud-prevention agency 

• you can demonstrate that the customer met the test for recording fraud markers set by the fraud prevention agencies 

• you had reasonable grounds to believe that fraud or a financial crime had been committed or attempted 

• the evidence was clear, relevant and rigorous 

• you may have made a mistake when recording information about a customer with a fraud-prevention agency 

• the information about the customer on the database is accurate 

You will need to ensure that the evidence you give us, to support your case for reporting the customer, is rigorous. It should include: 

• any fraud reports you’ve received from other banks, and  

• why the bank thinks the consumer was involved in fraudulent activity, rather than just an innocent party 

You will also need to provide us with: 

• an explanation why the customer’s details have been reported, the type of entry – for example, the CIFAS category – including the category it was reported under and the date 

• call recordings from when the bank questioned the customer about any fraud report, or any activity on the account that led to the reporting 

• statements from the period of the disputed transactions and six months leading up to the transactions 

• terms and conditions of the account 

• electronic records – an audit trail – to show how the disputed transactions were authenticated. For example, chip read, PIN entered, card not present, contactless, if 3D Secure was used. Any biometrics used such as the customer’s fingerprint  

• electronic record key so we can understand the report 

• online/mobile banking records covering the same time period as any disputed transactions 

• card/PIN history 

• CCTV where relevant, or an explanation as to why it’s not available if applicable 

• for distance contracts – that is, card not present transactions – all information obtained from the merchants in question. Or, if this wasn't requested, an explanation why 

• records of any other fraud markers  

We may ask additional questions, or for specific information, for example, to explore whether your firm complied with the Consumer Duty.  

We follow the FCA’s dispute resolution rules (DISP) and will take into account how you’ve tried to put things right.  

If we uphold a consumer's complaint, we'll tell you what you need to do to put things right. We may also ask you to compensate them for any distress or inconvenience they've experienced as a result of the problem. 

Businesses and consumer advisers can contact our Business Support Hub on 020 7964 1400 for information on how we might look at a particular complaint, or for guidance on our rules and how we work.

We also work with businesses and other organisations to help prevent complaints.