Banking fraud can impact anyone, but the key to avoiding it is knowing the warning signs.
And it's something Revolut customers should be aware of more than most, with the London-based neobank recording more complaints concerning fraud than any other bank in the UK.
Last year, Revolut customers complained to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) about being a victim of fraud more than any other financial institution in the country, with 3,458 fraud and scam-related judgements issued by the FOS.
Scams have continued this year, with one customer left £40,000 down and feeling 'entirely responsible' for what happened.
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And it was worse for others, with a combined £200,000 nicked from two accounts that wasn't recovered.
Set up less than a decade ago, Revolut offers a range of financial services including currency exchange, debit and credit cards, stock trading and even crypto.
Now, details of the above fraud and scam judgements issued to Revolut customers have been released, showing exactly what you need to watch out for to keep your money safe.
How have Revolut customers been targeted by criminals?
The Financial Ombudsman Service will look at your case if you don't think it's been handled properly, with the main purpose of its existence being to settle complaints between consumers and businesses that provide financial services.
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For 2023 issues relating to fraud and scams concerning Revolut customers, almost half related to one kind of complaint.
A massive 46 percent of complaints were about bank transfer scams. This is where people or business accounts are tricked into sending money to someone scamming trying to scam them.
Of the complaints lodged on this issue, almost half (44 per cent) were upheld by the FOS.
Any other issues?
Yes, sadly. The other 54 percent of judgements dealt with by the FOS concerned other types of fraud.
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That ranged from identity fraud to people making payments to illicit websites appearing to be something they weren't.
Unauthorised payments also makes up this chunk of complaints.
There was slightly better success here for Revolut customers with 48 percent of these types of fraud bringing about a positive result for them.
What has Revolut said?
A Revolut spokesperson told Which: "Each potential fraud case concerning a Revolut customer is carefully investigated and assessed independently of other cases. We also revisit liability considerations as a result of complaints wherever any errors are identified during the complaints review.
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"Revolut takes fraud and the industry-wide risk of customers being coerced by organised criminals incredibly seriously. We have robust protections in place for our millions of customers and analyse over half a billion transactions a month.
"Our security features include AI models, over 4,000 trained anti-financial crime professionals as well as experienced data scientists. In 2023, we prevented over £475m of potential fraud against our customers."
Topics: Business, Crime, Money, UK News, Technology
Tom Earnshaw