FOS warns of rise in card-based authorised fraud

The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) warned in September 2024 that it had come across more people inadvertently using their credit or debit cards to pay fraudsters¹. The ombudsman told Which? in June 2026 that complaints about authorised fraud involving a mix of payment types have continued to increase¹.

The warning concerns what has been described as a "hybrid" payment scam. Authorised push payment (APP) fraud is when someone is manipulated into sending money to a scammer by bank transfer; fraudsters are now increasingly persuading victims to approve card payments as well¹. Tactics include posing as a bank to convince people to share security codes or approve payments in an app¹. Authorised card payments are a common feature of romance and investment scams, as well as bank impersonation scams¹.

The distinction matters because the refund rules differ by payment method. Banks must reimburse unauthorised card payments quickly, for example where a scammer has stolen card details to buy goods online, as long as the customer did not act with gross negligence or fraudulently¹. Bank transfers to UK accounts are covered by a mandatory APP fraud reimbursement scheme¹. But where someone authorises a card payment to a legitimate company, even if the money ultimately reaches a criminal, chargeback or Section 75 claims usually do not apply, because those routes are primarily designed for unauthorised charges or issues such as non-delivery, faulty goods and misrepresentation¹.

Complaint figures for 2025 were obtained by Which? through a Freedom of Information request to the FOS¹. The ombudsman received 3,653 complaints about authorised card payments that year across the firms analysed, and on average 27% were upheld in favour of consumers¹.

Source: FOS data on the most complained about firms for authorised card payments, 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025; complaints are not disclosed where a firm received fewer than 30 cases, and an upheld complaint means the case was closed with a change in outcome in favour of the consumer¹. Both Revolut and Monzo told Which? the cases relate to historical complaints; Monzo said it prevented three times the value of fraud in 2025 compared with 2024, and Revolut said its data shows authorised card fraud cases declined by 35% in 2025 and that its upheld ratio was higher because it accelerated customer remediation¹.

Why it matters for households

Whether a payment is treated as authorised or unauthorised can determine whether a household gets its money back. Unauthorised card fraud is almost always refunded, and bank transfers to UK accounts fall under the mandatory APP reimbursement scheme, but people manipulated into approving card payments to scammers can be left without a refund¹. The FOS received 3,653 complaints about authorised card payments in 2025 across the firms analysed, with an average uphold rate of 27%¹. The ombudsman has a two-stage process: an Investigator issues the first decision, and either party can ask for the case to be escalated to an Ombudsman for a final review¹. More on how refund rights differ between authorised and unauthorised payments and on what to do if you gave your card details to a fraudster is set out in our guides.

What happens next

UK Finance told Which? it has "several pilots running to enhance the depth and coverage of our data, including authorised card scams", but does not currently have an estimate of when that data will be published¹. Which? said it is calling on providers to improve defences and publish data on card fraud¹.