The Financial Ombudsman Service has said it expects fraud and scams to make up 35 per cent of its banking and loan cases over the next financial year.

Overall, it predicts it will receive more than 37,000 fraud and scams complaints over the 12-month period, up from the 33,000 forecast to be recorded by the end of this financial year.

This will include cases involving APP scams, crypto fraud, and safe account scams.

Other banking issues the service is likely to see include problems with savings accounts, short term lending, and mortgages.

“It’s concerning to see high levels of fraud and scams cases continue to come to our service. People can feel embarrassed to have fallen victim to a fraud or scam, but these crimes can be complex and incredibly convincing, and nobody should be afraid to come forward,” said Abby Thomas, chief executive and chief ombudsman at the Financial Ombudsman Service. “No matter how difficult a case may be, people can come with confidence to our free, independent service and we’ll investigate their complaint.”

The Service has rolled out a transformation programme in recent years involving investment in new technologies, the opening of new team locations, and introducing new ways of working.

The Financial Ombudsman and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) have also recently launched a joint call for input looking at how to modernise the organisation's redress framework to ensure it is fit for the future.

The organisation said that while the current system works well for individual complaints about specific issues, sudden and significant increases in complaints can cause firms to struggle to effectively respond, delaying any customer redress that may be due.

In October, the number of financial complaints received by the Financial Ombudsman Service increased by 40 per cent in the first half of the year.

The organisation reported around 133,000 complaints over the six-month-period compared to the 93,000 recorded in the 2023.

According to the Service, banking and credit continues to be the most complained about financial services and was the only sector that saw a year-on-year increase in complaints.

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