UK Bank account holders at risk of fraud

New research shows that millions of UK bank account holders are putting themselves at risk of fraud by ignoring Confirmation of Payee warnings.

Lloyds Bank data has revealed that almost one in 10 (8%) UK adults who hold a bank account admit to proceeding with a payment without making any further checks when Confirmation of Payee (CoP) tells them the details aren’t an exact match.

CoP confirms whether the details entered match the account of the person or organisation being paid when sending money online to someone that hasn’t been paid before.

The aim of these checks is to stop payments from going to the wrong account by spotting possible mistakes and adding extra security steps to prevent fraud.

Of those surveyed, only 47% said that they would carry out further checks before proceeding with a transaction when presented with a ‘Confirmation of Payee unavailable’ message (which usually means the recipient bank or payment services provider isn’t signed up to the service, so the account details can’t be automatically checked).

Liz Ziegler, Fraud Prevention Director at Lloyds Bank, said, “Fraudsters are trying to steal people’s money all the time, they never stop. We’re talking about organised crime gangs, constantly inventing new scams to dupe victims out of their hard earned cash.

“So when you’re making a bank transfer and a warning flashes up to say that the account details don’t match, or can’t be checked at all, that should set alarm bells ringing straight away. Stop, take notice and think about why that could possibly be the case. There’s a big chance it’s because you’re being scammed.

“We urge all payment providers to introduce Confirmation of Payee as quickly as possible. We can see it deters criminals now, and if more people take notice of the warnings, it can help stop fraudsters in their tracks.”

To find out more about contracting please contact Mahli on 01206 591 000 or email mahli.tugby@contractorumbrella.com.