Authorised Push Payment (APP) fraud, where fraudsters manipulate victims into making payments, continues to be the criminals’ choice in the UK, costing around £460m in 2023 according to UK Finance figures. From 7 October 2024, the UK’s Payment System Regulator (PSR) is mandating banks and payment companies to promptly reimburse the victims of this crime. All good, surely? Well, yes and no….whilst it’s right that innocent victims are protected, APP frauds are a broad category, covering romance frauds, impersonation frauds right through to fraudulent purchases though online market places. The banks are on the hook…but there is a growing call for others such as phone/social media companies and online marketplaces to step up and do more to prevent this fraud. And the rest of the world is watching…..
Our two expert speakers are Christine Farrow from UK Finance and Sandra Peaston from Cifas who will be talking about:
- What can banks and Payment Service Providers do to prevent APP fraud?
- Is there a more proportionate reimbursement model?
- The risk of organised groups exploiting the reimbursement scheme
- The role of social media platforms in preventing APP fraud
Bios:
Christine Farrow - Fraud Prevention Scheme Lead UK Finance
Chris has led the UK Finance response to authorised push payment fraud as well as overseeing the industry money mule strategy for 9 years. Chris’ passion for fraud prevention led to the development of a cross-sector partnership with National Police and National Trading Standards resulting in the launch of the award-winning Banking Protocol, aimed at protecting vulnerable consumers within bank branches. This national initiative is embedded within the policing plan for all 45 Police Forces, is used by 54 national financial institutions as well as the Post Office and has prevented more than £370million in APP fraud. The initiative has since expanded to cover both online and telephony transactions.
In more recent years, Chris’ focus has been spent supporting industry, the PSR and Pay.UK in the implementation of the PSRs three APP measures, while driving forward the Enhanced fraud data initiative and the Risk Based Approach to Payments.
Chris began her career as a Masters graduate with the Metropolitan Police, spending 9 years with the Met in total, 5 of which were in fraud prevention.
Sandra Peaston - Director of Research & Development Cifas
Sandra has been at Cifas since 2000 and has a wealth of experience in fraud data analytics and a deep and expansive understanding of data sharing for the purposes of fraud prevention. She leads on Cifas’ research and development, ensuring that the Cifas community is equipped to handle the ever-evolving fraud threat and has been central to the development of the Cifas APP Victim Check fraud prevention scheme. She previously oversaw the insight function, delivering fraud-related research and intelligence, and was the author of Cifas’ annual report Fraudscape, which analyses current fraud trends in the UK. She has also overseen a team specialising in Government and law enforcement relationships, supporting the police in investigating fraud and financial crime. Sandra co-authored the OIX Guide to Fraud Controls for Digital Identity ecosystems.
