19 May 2017Consumer group Which? has urged banks to take ‘meaningful action’ in order to safeguard consumers from financial fraud. Research published by the group has suggested that banks are leaving their customers exposed to bank transfer scams. The findings revealed that 8% of individuals had made a bank transfer to what they believed was a legitimate business, but later turned out to be a criminal. Of those who had lost money to bank transfer scams, 54% had been victims in the last six months. The consumer group’s findings also revealed that some people have lost ‘life-changing’ sums of money, with 37% reporting that they didn’t receive any of their money back. Which? is calling for banks to outline what action they are taking to protect customers from financial fraud. It also stated that the next government must set out an ambitious plan to make sure that banks ‘do more to protect consumers from bank transfer scams’. Gareth Shaw, money expert at Which?, commented: ‘Despite the fact that consumers are still losing life-changing sums of money to fraudsters, it’s not clear what meaningful action the banks have taken to protect their customers. ‘People assume that banks will look after them and their money. So it’s vital that the industry, regulator and the next government act quickly and decisively to tackle financial fraud. ‘Failure to do so will continue to leave consumers paying the price.’