Finding the right company to help you get your money back when you've been scammed
What to do when you’ve been scammed
Lots of people have lost money to fraud and the sophistication of the scammers is only increasing. You’ll of course want to know how to get your money back when you’ve been scammed. However, it’s a crucial decision as to whether you go alone, or whether you find a company that can help you get your money back. Below we set out the steps you should take and the red flags to look out for if you do seek representation.
Your first steps
Your first steps should always be to:
Report the scam to your bank: This is because your bank should try and recoup the funds from the account it was sent to and if they are unsuccessful, they should consider reimbursing you. You don’t need to pay anyone to do this for you and you should choose whether you seek representation or not after this stage.
Report the scam to Action Fraud: Action Fraud are the police and therefore they may look into this for you. Unfortunately however, only a small number of frauds are ever prosecuted.
If your bank doesn’t reimburse you
Even if your bank says no and seems confident it’s not at fault, don’t shy away from challenging their decision. Banks are getting this wrong all the time which is why we set up Refundee. To do this, you need to complain to them and take them to the Financial Ombudsman Service. You can either do it yourself or use a representative like Refundee.
Doing it yourself: If you feel capable of managing your case yourself you should absolutely do this. The obvious major benefit of this approach is that if you win, you get 100% of your refund back.
Getting help: We completely understand that being scammed can have a huge impact on someone's mental health and confidence. A protracted battle with your bank about whether it should refund you or not, may not be something you want to, or feel able to do. Or, you may just be busy and want someone else to do this for you. Below are our tips on how to find help.
What to watch out for
Beware of secondary scams
Unfortunately, fraudsters are ruthless and will try and scam you again. If you’ve been contacted by someone out of the blue saying they can help you get your money back, it’s likely to be the fraudsters or someone they’ve passed your details to. To check if someone is legit, there are things that you can do and some good “rules of thumb”.
Check if the company is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) or the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA)
To carry out the activity of helping you get your money back, the company needs to be regulated by either the FCA or the SRA. It doesn’t matter if they are based in the UK or not, to do this you need to have a licence from one of these organisations. To check if a company is regulated by the FCA you can check here. To check if someone is regulated by the SRA, check here.
Companies with licences from these organisations should be legitimate but the FCA presently sets higher standards on the claims management companies it regulates than the SRA does. For example, the FCA expects greater up front transparency on fees and it also caps the fees companies charge whereas the SRA does not. The SRA is considering new, higher standards in the future, but this hasn’t been implemented yet.
Is the company charging up front fees?
It’s a good rule of thumb that if the company is asking you for money before you get it back in your pocket, you should be suspicious. This is because most fraudulent companies have no hope of getting your money back for you, so they can’t take a cut of your winnings. The way it works with Refundee is that if you are successful, the money is paid by the bank directly to you and then Refundee sends out the invoice to you. If you are asked to pay up front, it’s possible that the firm you are speaking to is unregulated or even a scam.
Is the company based abroad?
It’s a red flag if the company is not based in the UK, especially if it’s pretending to be in the UK but isn’t. Regardless of what the firm tells you, to conduct claims management activity you need to have a presence in the UK and you need to have a licence from the FCA or SRA. There are no exemptions or exceptions to this rule. So if the firm is abroad, make sure you check whether they have a licence.
Is the company telling you that they can get the money from a “crypto wallet” of a fraudster?
By its design, it’s extremely difficult to locate the individual holder of a crypto wallet. We’ve never come across a legitimate firm that can get money back from a crypto wallet for you but we have come across a lot of fraudulent companies or clones of real companies that say they can do this. Of course we will update this blog if we ever do come across a legitimate company that does this!
Is the company telling you that they have already obtained the money?
This is a very clear indication that they are a scam. Claims companies will not have any record of you and the claims process itself can take a long time. If you have been contacted by a firm telling you that they have already identified your money and can return it to you for a fee, it is almost certainly a scam.
Clone firms
Even if you are dealing with a legitimate firm, beware of “clones” where people pretend to be from a legitimate firm. A good way to check is to independently find the legitimate company’s phone number. If they are FCA regulated, you can find this number on the FCA register. Alternatively, you can find their recognised website (do not follow links sent to you by the person you are dealing with) and then call the number on the website to check.
We often see follow up scams where the person pretends to be from “blockchain.com” and says they can get the money back for you. This isn’t the real blockchain.com and it is a very common scam. Of course, they will ask you to pay the fee up front before ‘releasing’ the money to you.
Choosing a legitimate company to help you
Of course we want you to use Refundee but this blogpost is not a sales pitch. We are happy as long as you get your money back and do not get ripped off in the process. If you do decide to get a representative and you’ve confirmed they are legit, you may wish to shop around and check the below.
How transparent is the website?
It should be clear from the website how much they charge and they should also make it clear that you can manage your case yourself. If the company tries to make it’s fees hard to find or they discourage you from managing your own case, it’s likely that they are not operating with the level of integrity they should.
How much do they charge?
A higher cost is definitely not an indicator of the quality of the representation you’ll receive. In fact, we believe that if anything, a lower cost is a greater indicator of quality and integrity. We charge 15% + VAT at Refundee with a fee cap of £10,000 for large cases and we believe this is a fair charge for the work done. FCA firms are subject to fee caps so the most they can charge is 30%. The SRA does not cap the fees that companies under its jurisdiction charge, so sometimes you will see very high fees from SRA regulated firms.
The FCA currently has higher standards for the firms it regulates than the SRA does
While every company is different, the FCA requires greater up-front transparency on fees and it also caps the fees companies charge, whereas the SRA does not. The SRA is considering new, higher standards in the future, but this hasn’t been implemented yet.
Check what experience the company’s employees have
Although many firms in these cases market themselves as lawyers, these are mostly not legal cases. They are regulatory cases that are taken to the Financial Ombudsman Service. Therefore, your representatives need to have a solid understanding of how banks are required to treat victims of fraud. It also helps if they know the inner workings of the Financial Ombudsman Service. The founding team at Refundee is made up of people with experience in banking, at the Financial Conduct Authority and at the Financial Ombudsman Service. Therefore we have a solid understanding of how this is all supposed to work and whether your case has a chance of success or not.
