Your Money Just Left the Building: A 24-Hour Plan After a Bank Transfer Scam

You tap send. The banking app spins for a second, then says the payment has gone. For a moment, everything feels normal. Then the penny drops: the builder was fake, the buyer was a fraudster, or the 'safe account' belonged to a scammer. Your money is on its way out, and your stomach is somewhere near your shoes.

First, take a breath. You are not the first person this has happened to, and you will not be the last. The first day matters, but it is not about panicking. It is about doing a handful of practical things in the right order. At Alison's Legal, we would rather you had a clear plan than a perfect memory of what went wrong.

First things first: don’t ring the number in the message

If someone phoned, texted or emailed you pretending to be your bank, do not use any contact details they gave you. Hang up, wait a few minutes, and call your bank using the number on the back of your card or in the official app. In the UK, you can also call 159 if you have been targeted by a bank impersonation scam – it connects you to your bank’s fraud team. For other scams, go straight to your bank’s published fraud number.

If you are in Scotland, reports to Action Fraud are handled by Police Scotland. You can call 101 or use the Police Scotland website. Elsewhere in the UK, Action Fraud is the usual port of call.

The first hour: stop the bleeding

Call your bank’s fraud team and say, clearly: 'I have been tricked into making an authorised push payment. I want to freeze my account, cancel any pending payments, and make a reimbursement claim under the APP rules.' Those words matter because they put the issue in the right box. A transfer you were deceived into making is different from a card payment someone made without your permission.

Ask them to recall the payment if it has not yet left the banking system. There is no guarantee, but speed helps. Ask them to freeze your card and account while you sort things out, and check whether any other payments are pending. If you have used the same password elsewhere, change it now and switch on two-factor authentication wherever it is offered.

Do not delete anything. Not the text, not the email, not the WhatsApp thread, not the fake invoice. It may feel like evidence you would rather not look at, but it is exactly what you will need later.

The next few hours: report it and keep the receipts

Report the scam to Action Fraud online or on 0300 123 2040. You will get a crime reference number. Write it down somewhere safe and give it to your bank if they ask. Reporting does not always mean someone will be caught, but it creates an official record and helps the wider fight against fraud.

Then build a simple evidence pack. Take screenshots of the messages, emails, website pages, account numbers, sort codes and transaction references. Save the original emails rather than forwarding them. Write a short timeline: when you were first contacted, what you were told, when you sent the money, and when you realised something was wrong. Keep it factual. You do not need to write an essay – a bullet-point list is fine.

If the scammer pretended to be a real business, tell that business too, using a number or email address you find independently. They may have had their email account hacked, and they will want to know.

Make the reimbursement claim properly

The rules on authorised push payment scams are the reason the first day matters so much. Since October 2024, UK banks and payment firms have been required to reimburse eligible victims of APP fraud. In 2026, that framework is still the main route for getting money back after a transfer scam.

In plain English: if you were tricked into sending money by Faster Payments to a UK account, your bank should reimburse you unless one of a limited set of exceptions applies. The cap is generally £85,000, and a £100 excess can be deducted. The bank must usually pay within five business days, though it can take up to 35 business days if it needs to investigate further. It may argue 'gross negligence' – for example, that you ignored clear warnings – but that is a high bar. Being tricked is not the same as being careless.

Ask your bank for a written acknowledgement of your claim. Keep a note of who you spoke to, the time, and what they said. If you sent money abroad or used crypto, different rules may apply, but you should still report it and ask your bank what it can do.

If the bank says no

Do not stop at a phone call. Put in a formal complaint. Say that you are complaining about the handling of your APP scam claim and set out the facts in date order. Keep it short and calm. The bank has eight weeks to give you a final response. If it does not resolve things, or if it rejects your claim, you can take the complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service. That service is free for consumers and looks at what is fair and reasonable, not just what is strictly legal.

Beware of anyone who contacts you offering to recover your money for a fee. Recovery scams often target people who have already been scammed once. Your bank and the Ombudsman will not ask you to pay a third party to get your case moving.

The wider clean-up

Check your credit report for searches or accounts you do not recognise. If you handed over personal details, consider protective registration with Cifas, which makes it harder for someone to open credit in your name. Tell your other bank or building society if you have one. If your email account was hacked, change the password, check the forwarding rules, and tell your contacts.

Finally, write down what happened while it is fresh. Not to beat yourself up, but because your bank, the Ombudsman or the police may ask for the same details more than once. A clear timeline is your friend.

Your 24-hour checklist

• Call your bank’s fraud team using an official number and ask them to freeze payments and start an APP claim.
• Change passwords and switch on two-factor authentication.
• Report to Action Fraud, or Police Scotland in Scotland, and save the reference.
• Screenshot messages, emails, account details and transaction references.
• Write a short timeline of what happened.
• Ask for written confirmation of your claim and note every conversation.
• Complain formally if the bank rejects you, then consider the Financial Ombudsman Service.
• Check your credit report and think about Cifas protective registration.

The first day after a bank transfer scam is horrible, but it is not powerless. Do the practical things, keep the evidence, and make the bank do its job. You are allowed to be upset. You are also allowed to be organised.