Rising funds transfer fraud incidents

Data suggests that there’s been a rise of funds transfer fraud (FTF) in the UK, and with real-time and faster payment processes commonplace these days, we’re not surprised.

Incidents of funds transfer fraud can be linked with data breaches as well. Whether it’s a bank or financial institution that’s hacked – the Tesco data breach being one example – or a scam that’s linked to a data breach, we have to ask the question: what more could have been done, and who’s responsible?

It can only take a little bit of information in the wrong hands to do some serious damage. People have fallen victim to scams that are directly related to big data breach incidents. A rise in FTF is a concern.

Attacks and incidents of funds transfer fraud increasing

We understand that malware, ransomware and other attacks that go hand-in-hand with incidents of funds transfer fraud are on the rise in the UK, as well as FTF itself.

As criminals can master new techniques to make themselves look as convincing as possible, people are falling for scams. From legitimate-looking emails that send you to legitimate-looking websites, to scam calls that feel like the real thing, it’s easy to see how people can become a victim.

But data breach incidents are also linked to these problems too. Did you know, for example, that scammers have been contacting TalkTalk customers pretending to be the company itself in the wake of their monumental 2015 data breach. Some of the victims we’ve helped have told us of their harrowing experiences that led to funds transfer fraud incidents.

One of the biggest issues from what we have been informed was that the criminals seemed to know information such as:

• Their names and contact information;
• TalkTalk account information;
• Details of complaints on their accounts.

Although TalkTalk has played down the data breach and has disputed links between scams and the breach itself, you can see the link. If someone called you and they had your data and knew about a complaint and said they were calling to discuss it, how could you know you’re speaking to scammers?

What can you do about funds transfer fraud?

It can be hard to recover easily from a funds transfer fraud incident. With how quickly money can be moved these days, the trail can easily go cold very quickly.

But in terms of recovering your lost money, if there’s a legitimate data breach compensation claim to make, you stand a chance of being compensated. In most cases, the incident must have been caused by the fault of someone else for you to be able to claim. Normally, there has to be negligence to hold an organisation accountable. Whether that’s where a bank or financial institution is hacked directly, or where a data breach has led to criminals using your information to scam you, we may be able to help in some cases.

For free, no-obligation advice, feel free to contact the team.

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