Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to tackle authorised push payment fraud, including that which targets vulnerable people.

Authorised Push Payment scams are often highly sophisticated and emotionally manipulative and it is unacceptable that victims may lose their money as a result. The Government is working with industry, including the banking and tech sectors to ensure that victims are protected from these crimes in the first place and are not left out of pocket because of them

The government is legislating through the Financial Services and Markets Bill to give the Payment Systems Regulator the powers it needs to make all Payment Service Providers reimburse victims of authorised fraud on the Faster Payments System in circumstances where the victim hasn’t been grossly negligent. We expect that this will materially improve outcomes for victims and provide enhanced incentives for firms to prevent these scams in the first place. The Payment Systems Regulator has consulted on the mechanism for reimbursement and industry liability and will publish its response shortly.

We are focused on stopping unscrupulous fraudsters in their tracks and supporting victims so they can recover and protect themselves. Raising awareness and safeguarding victims will form a key part of the Government’s forthcoming fraud strategy.

We are already taking concrete steps to protect the most vulnerable victims:

• The Home Office is working with City of London Police to expand the Action Fraud National Economic Crime Victim Care Unit across England and Wales for victims whose cases are not investigated by the police. These units aims to make victims feel safer and more confident following contact, whilst assisting them to cope and recover from the crime and to significantly reduce the likelihood of repeat victimisation. The Home Office is working with City of London Police to deliver a nationwide rollout of these units.

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• We are working with industry to do more to protect victims from fraud. We have re-launched the Joint Fraud Taskforce which brings together the public and private sectors to combat fraud and we have agreed voluntary sector charters with the banking, telecommunications and accountancy sectors that among other things have resulted in fewer scam messages reaching victims.

• We continue to support the National Trading Standards on the roll out of call blocking devices to vulnerable people and the National Economic Crime Centre have recently provided further funding for the delivery of additional devices. These devices have helped to provide protection against nuisance and scam calls.

• We have established a Victims of Fraud Working Group which brings together key stakeholders from law enforcement, victim support services and the private sector to create a forum to discuss the victim support landscape, share best practice, close vulnerabilities in the system and ensure that victims of fraud and cyber crime are consistently receiving the right level of support.