Financial Ombudsman Service sees complaints increase by more than 50%

We received 73,692 overall complaints between July and September 2024. In the same period in 2023/24 we received 46,716 cases. 

The newly released figures reveal that fraud and scams cases have now reached their highest quarterly level, with consumers lodging 9,091 complaints in the three-month period. That’s significantly higher than the 6,264 new fraud and scam cases lodged in the same period last year. In the previous quarter (April to June 2024) there were 8,734 fraud and scams complaints.

Of the latest fraud and scams figure, 4,956 were in relation to authorised push payment (APP) scams. These are cases where consumers use an online bank transfer to inadvertently pass money to a fraudster.

Commenting on today’s figures, Abby Thomas, Chief Executive and Chief Ombudsman of the Financial Ombudsman Service, said:

“It’s concerning to see yet another rise in fraud and scams cases coming to our service. People can feel embarrassed to have fallen victim to a fraud or scam and may be reluctant to report the issue, but these crimes can be complex and incredibly convincing and nobody should be afraid to come forward.

“In recent years, as a result of our investigations into thousands of cases, more than £150m has been returned to those who have fallen victim to a scam.

“If consumers have a dispute with their bank or finance provider they can come directly to our service, if they’re unhappy with how their complaint has been handled. Getting a fair answer is free and easy.”

The rise in these complaints is partly due to the increasing complexity of the fraud and scam cases we receive.

Multi-stage frauds, where funds pass through several banks before reaching the fraudster, are now becoming more common.

This is particularly prevalent in cryptocurrency investment scams as well as ‘safe account’ scams – where people are cold called by fraudsters posing as a trusted entity, such as their bank, and persuaded to transfer money to another account.

There are also increasing numbers of consumers submitting fraud and scam complaints about their e-money accounts. Of the 2,196 e-money cases received in total this quarter, three-quarters (1,607) related to fraud and scams. Many of these complaints involved the transferring of cryptocurrency, sometimes through multiple financial providers before reaching the fraudster.

In some of the cases we've seen, fraudsters actively encourage potential victims to open e-money accounts so they can then access the money as part of the scam.

Pat Hurley, Ombudsman Director at the Financial Ombudsman Service said:

“Scammers’ strategies are always evolving and they’re constantly looking for new ways to defraud people.  

“Increasingly, we’re seeing more multi-stage frauds, where fraudsters encourage people to move money through different banks or other payment providers for ‘investment’ opportunities including cryptocurrency. Whilst the victim is promised amazing returns, in reality it's actually a scam. 

“We also continue to see traditional scams where criminals pose as an official body, such as a bank or the police, and ask consumers to move their money to a ‘safe’ account. If you're called out of the blue, hang up the phone." 

Across all financial products we investigated, the most complained about are credit cards, hire purchase (motor) and current accounts.

Credit cards and current accounts are both at an all-time quarterly high. In the three months between July and September 2024, there were 22,366 new credit card cases and 9,186 complaints about current accounts.

This is a significant rise from the same time last year when we logged 4,505 credit card cases and 7,880 complaints about current accounts. For current accounts more customers are falling victim to fraud and scams and are also unhappy with the service their bank is providing.

Meanwhile, the vast majority of credit card cases are about perceived irresponsible and unaffordable lending. In particular, people believe financial providers should have intervened over persistently high credit balances, high credit limits or provided lower interest rates.

With both these products a large proportion of the cases are brought by professional representatives – they are now responsible for a third of current account complaints, and 85% of credit card cases. When a complaint is upheld, many of these representatives go on to charge consumers a significant percentage of any redress awarded. 

We consulted on a fairer fee model which will see professional representatives charged to bring cases to its service. We recently published feedback on that consultation setting out the intention to proceed with a charging regime, subject to the relevant Parliamentary and FCA approvals being given.

Notes to editors

A breakdown of the most complained about products we've received is below.

We upheld 34% of the complaints we resolved in the second quarter of this financial year.

Read case studies on fraud and scams.

Tips on how to avoid being scammed

Investment scams

• If you invest in a firm which isn’t authorised by the FCA, you risk losing money without any of the usual protection, such as access to us. 
• Adverts on social media that appear to offer spectacular returns on investments are almost certainly scams. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
• It’s highly unlikely that a reputable business will ask you to pay a fee upfront.

“Safe account” scams

• A bank will never contact you and ask you to move money. Hang up the phone.
• Telephone numbers can be spoofed – caller ID is no guarantee that you’re speaking to the person you think you are. Hang up and call your bank back on a trusted number.
• The bank will never ask you to help catch fraudsters by moving money, neither will the police. Only fraudsters will ask you to lie to your bank.
• Always read and take account of the warnings the bank provides, only fraudsters will ask you to ignore them.

Invoice intercepted scams

• Always confirm or check account details in person or on a trusted phone number. 
• If an email doesn’t look or sound like you’d expect, then treat it with caution. Be aware that fraudsters sometimes monitor email correspondence for some time and can be very good at imitating communication styles
• Fraudsters can impersonate people in many ways, not just over email. If you receive a request from someone you know that involves sending or receiving money, then always double-check it came from them, using another communication method.

About the data

The data in this release refers to 1 July to 30 September 2024. You can access a downloadable file to the full data set here.

All comparisons to Quarter 2 2023/24 refer to the published data set on our website. It was published on 14 December 2023. 

About the Financial Ombudsman Service

The Financial Ombudsman Service was set up by Parliament to resolve individual complaints between financial businesses and their customers on a fair and reasonable basis, as a free alternative to the courts. It can look into problems involving most types of money matters. It is committed to sharing insight and experience to encourage fairness and confidence in financial services.