Authorised Push Payment Fraud (Temp Post)
In March 2018, Mrs Philipp transferred two payments to accounts in the UAE, totalling £700,000, representing her and her husband, Dr Philipp’s savings. In doing so, Mrs and Dr Philipp thought they were assisting an investigation by the FCA and National Crime Agency (“NCA”) into fraudulent activities. Unfortunately for the Philipp family, they were, in fact, the victims of that fraud, not helping to tackle it.
Dr Philipps authorised transfers to Mrs Philipps’ accounts from his own, and Mrs Philipps authorised the transfers to the two UAE-based bank accounts. They knew the destination of the funds, and meant for them to be sent. What they did not know was that the two accounts were controlled by fraudsters, who had tricked them into making the payments to “safe” accounts, as part of investigations into an alleged fraud.
This type of scam is known as authorised push payment (“APP”) fraud. The customer instructs their bank or other payment services provider to transfer money from their account and the transaction is carried out with their consent. As such it is authorised by the customer (even if the authorisation resulted from a fraud). APP fraud is a growing problem in the UK.
