Scams can have a devastating impact on customers, causing both financial and emotional distress, with the victim’s experience so often associated with feelings of guilt, worry, and embarrassment –particularly for those considered vulnerable. It is therefore vital that we stop customers from having to go through this emotional and financial distress by preventing more scams from happening in the first place.
We welcome the PSR’s commitment to reinforcing the prevention and detection measures of the CRM Code and encouraging collaboration between industry stakeholders to improve protection measures for customers. A collaborative approach across the financial services industry is essential if we are to reduce the number of APP scams together. The sharing of intelligence between payment service providers (PSPs) on effective detection and prevention measures could significantly reduce the number of potential victims, for example. Beyond this, there needs to be cross sector collaboration from other industries, such as online forums, social media platforms, and influential voices, who also have a role to play in raising awareness and helping to prevent APP scams. Customers can also help by being vigilant and reading and acting upon warnings and information presented to them.
The PSR’s calls to see reimbursement protection become universal, and the reinforcement of the prevention and detections measures by potentially making the Code mandatory, is a welcome prompt to firms to sign up to the CRM Code so they are fully armed and prepared for APP scam protection to move up the agenda.
