Ombudsman calls for swift action for victims of 'authorised scams'
29 Jun 2022
The Financial Ombudsman Service recently published its annual complaints data for the 2021/22 financial year and found that complaints about 'authorised scams' increased by a fifth.
Authorised scams are those which trick individuals into transferring money to a criminal who they believe to be a genuine company or trader.
Customers' complaints focused on financial businesses' administrative facilities and customer service, with over 35,000 complaints logged with the Financial Ombudsman Service.
Current accounts proved to be the most complained about product, with the Financial Ombudsman Service opening 25,000 new cases in relation to them. It said that cases about authorised scams were mounting, with more than 17,500 recorded in 2021/22.
The service received 108,065 complaints about banking and credit; 33,127 about insurance; and 5,369 about payment protection insurance (PPI).
Commenting on the issue, Nausicaa Delfas, interim Chief Executive and Chief Ombudsman at the Financial Ombudsman Service, said: 'Over the past year, the Financial Ombudsman Service continued to help over two hundred thousand customers who had problems with financial businesses on issues across banking, lending, insurance and investments.
'In this period of economic uncertainty, it is more important than ever that where problems do arise, they are addressed quickly.'