Fraud and scam complaints have reached their highest ever quarterly level, according to data released by the Financial Ombudsman Service.

Across a three-month period from April to June, the service recorded over 8,700 cases compared to around 6,000 complaints during the same 12 weeks of 2024.

It said that over half of those cases related to online bank transfers.

The organisation blamed the figures on increasing numbers of multi-stage frauds which can see consumers put in multiple claims due to the number of firms involved, as well as the growth of people inadvertently using their credit or debit cards to pay fraudsters.

There have also been more online fraud cases being brought by professional representatives.

The Financial Ombudsman Service said that while many financial providers have now signed up to the voluntary Contingent Reimbursement Model (CRM) code, which provides additional protection for consumers and means they are reimbursed unless there are exceptional circumstances, if a bank has not signed up consumers can have less recourse for reimbursement.

It explained that whether a bank has signed up to the CRM code or not can affect the outcome of a consumer’s case.

Of the 4,752 APP scam cases received by the Ombudsman in the first three months of the financial year, 2,734 were not covered by the code.

This is reflected in the uphold rate – with 49 per cent of cases that fall under the code upheld, compared to 36 per cent that do not.

“Fraudsters’ methods are always evolving, and we continue to see that reflected in the complaints brought to our service," said Pat Hurley, ombudsman director for banking. “We are currently receiving – and resolving – around 500 fraud and scam complaints a week."

The organisation says that the introduction of new rules from the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) later this year should speed up the time it takes to be reimbursed.

On Monday the PSR announced it will consult on a new cap for its upcoming APP reimbursement scheme, which comes into force in October.

The UK payments watchdog previously set the maximum reimbursement value at £415,000, which will now likely be reduced to £85,000.

The move comes after industry sources recently told City AM that they expected there could be a U-turn on the regulator’s rules, including a potential delay to the launch date of the scheme or the reimbursement threshold.

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