Fraud Intelligence
Phishing Scams
Phishing remains the gateway to most modern financial fraud. A single click on a fake bank email can lead to drained accounts, fraudulent loans, and identity theft, but the bank often shares responsibility for the loss.
The Mechanics
How phishing attacks bypass your defenses
Phishing relies on exploiting human psychology and technical blind spots. Understanding the attack lifecycle is critical to building a legal case for bank reimbursement.
The Lure
You receive a highly convincing email or SMS mimicking a trusted entity like your bank, HMRC, or a delivery service, often creating a false sense of urgency.
The Clone
The message contains a link to a pixel-perfect clone of the legitimate login portal, designed to harvest your credentials without raising suspicion.
The Harvest
Once you enter your username, password, and sometimes one-time passcodes, the criminals instantly capture the session data.
The Drain
Within minutes, the fraudsters log into your real account, add a new payee, and transfer funds to mule accounts before the bank's systems can intervene.
Scam Variants
Common types of phishing attacks
While the underlying goal is always credential theft, scammers adapt their delivery methods to target different vulnerabilities.
Spear Phishing
Highly targeted emails using your real name, job title, or recent transactions to appear completely legitimate.
Smishing (SMS)
Fake text messages regarding missed deliveries, blocked cards, or tax refunds containing malicious links.
Vishing (Voice)
Fraudsters call pretending to be bank security, using spoofed numbers to convince you to authorize transfers.
Clone Phishing
Scammers duplicate a legitimate email you previously received, replacing the links with malicious ones.
Our Approach
Our Recovery Process
Document
We capture the phishing artefact and the bank's actions to build the complaint file.
Assess
We identify failures in the bank's anti-fraud controls and Confirmation of Payee process.
Pursue
We file CRM Code, PSR, and FOS complaints to compel reimbursement.
Recover
We secure refunds and pursue the receiving bank where applicable.
Legal Authority
We leverage UK financial regulations
Even when you were tricked into handing over your credentials, the banking system's safeguards and regulatory frameworks remain your strongest tool for recovery. We hold institutions accountable.
PSR Mandatory Reimbursement
Under the new Payment Systems Regulator mandate, banks must reimburse victims of authorised push payment fraud, including phishing and impersonation scams, up to £85,000 per claim.
Confirmation of Payee (CoP) Failures
If the name on the receiving account did not match the payee name and the bank failed to warn you or block the transaction, they may be liable for negligence.
Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS)
If your bank unfairly rejects your claim by citing "customer negligence", we escalate the dispute to the FOS, which routinely overturns these decisions in favour of the victim.
How Phishing Leads to Financial Loss
The classic pattern involves receiving a fake email or text, clicking the link, and unknowingly entering your banking credentials on a clone website. Within minutes, the criminals log in, set up a new payee, and drain the account. More sophisticated variants combine phishing with a follow-up call from a fake fraud officer who walks you through authorising payments to a safe account.
Why Banks Are Often Liable
- Failure to flag unusual login activity or new-payee transactions
- Failure to apply or honour Confirmation of Payee warnings
- Failure to identify the criminal call as part of the same fraud
- Failure to recover funds quickly enough from the receiving bank
What To Do Immediately
Call your bank from the number on the back of your card, not any number given by the caller. Change passwords from a clean device. Report to Action Fraud. Then contact us to begin the recovery process.
£28,000 Recovered After Sophisticated Smishing Attack
Our client received a text message appearing to be from their bank regarding a suspicious transaction. They clicked the link and entered their credentials. The fraudsters immediately initiated a £28,000 transfer to a new payee. The bank initially rejected the refund claim, arguing the client had voluntarily handed over their security details. We intervened by gathering evidence showing the bank's systems failed to trigger a Confirmation of Payee mismatch warning and ignored the unusual velocity of the transaction. We escalated the case to the FOS, which ruled the bank's fraud controls were inadequate and forced a full reimbursement.
Lost money after clicking a phishing link?
Speak with our specialists today for a free, confidential consultation.
Common Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
Often yes. Under the new PSR rules and the CRM Code, banks must reimburse blameless victims of impersonation fraud, including where deception led you to share security details.
Report to your bank immediately. Formal complaints generally have a six-year window, with six months to escalate to the FOS after a final response.
Yes. Account closure does not affect your right to claim against the bank for the fraud loss. We handle the dispute directly with their legal and compliance teams.
Identity fraud loans can be challenged with the lender and credit reference agencies. We handle this alongside the main claim to protect your credit rating.
Take Action Today
Affected by a phishing scam?
Our team of expert fraud lawyers can help you recover your lost funds and hold the banks accountable. No win, no fee.