Why should we all pay for those who’ve been scammed?

The chances that the banks would offer better interest rates if they weren't paying this compensation are, frankly, negligible. They would just pay out bigger salaries and dividends.

Agree OP. Not only that, I have long suspected that most people who get scammed this way know fine well what's going on but are enjoying it so much - the attention, the feeling of being wanted and valued - that they push it to the backs of their minds and just keep sending the money. It's only when it's worn off or the recipient does a disappearing act that they look at their hollow bank account and are regretful. The chemicals released by the brain at the beginning of a relationship are similar to those who use drugs. I believe these people are paying for a "hit" of "love" and attention. Banks wouldn't be expected to pay for any other kind of high would they?

A lot of the older people who fall for these 'romance scams' where a stunning 26 years old falls madly for a less than lovely 60+ years old, and I say that as a ltl 75 years old, are not victims of crime, they're victims of their own delusions. Why is it not possible for people to acknowledge their own short-comings, nothing's ever their fault?

Yes I agree, and since over 80% on here agree with the Op, it appears that we're in the majority.

I think scams vary in their degree of sophistication but come on, banks these days constantly check that you know who you are paying before they allow a payment to go through so why should they be liable if you choose to give your life savings to a complete stranger when you have been warned numerous times that it could be a scam. Why should banks be having to pay out compensation for crime if they were not to blame for it?

Banks are respected, trusted, pivotal institutions in our society.

Really, @Harella? Pivotal, yes. The rest is a joke.

What rates do you feel banks would reduce without paying out for scams?

Interest rates are linked to BOE rates and set to achieve a profit. While these scams may seem like a lot of money to you, it is really nothing to a large UK bank and it’s ridiculous that you assume it would have any impact on the fees you pay.

Dont be mean, people get scammed. It’s sad they believe it but it really doesn’t impact you.

One is illegal activity and the other isn’t. I simply don’t agree that victims of crime should be told tough luck , you should have had more intelligence about you. It is rarely that simple , many victims are very vulnerable which is exactly why they are targeted and fall foul to these scams in the first place. Nothing anyone says on this thread will change my mind on that.

I once saw an interview with a policeman who investigates scams where he said "everyone has a point in their life when they are vulnerable to a scam." Food for thought as you sit on your high horse.

Hmm. Do the banks have to pay back the money? Really?

@babetyouknow , I know a woman who has been scammed not once, not twice but three times by different men . She's intelligent (debatable I guess) , holds down a good job etc. She was warned multiple times that the first bloke probably didn't work for MI5 , the second one probably wasn't going to invest her money in a restaurant and the third one wasn't going to use her money to build a house for them.

Is it really true that banks have to reimburse the money?

Because if so, what's to stop me sending my life savings western union to a friend in Nigeria and then getting repaid by the bank?

But people being scammed rarely recognise they are being scammed. They are in love, thye think they are helping the love of their life. They have been 'worked on' for momnths at this stage, it's a slow process. It's only when it's too late, and then it takes them weeks to realise what has happened. So a little emssage popping up asking "do you know the person you are sending money to" is hardly helping, because they think they do know the person, they think they are getting married etc etc...

So? The issue is the same, they are manipulated or drawn into giving away their money. What is the difference?

Gambling isn’t a crime.

I read about an interesting scam recently that is worth sharing. A young woman, 19 or so, loaned her friend £50 and he said he would transfer it to her the following week. When it came through it was far more, in the 100s, he said he'd made a mistake, draw it out, keep the £50 and give me the rest. A year later she was arrested for money laundering and was convicted, it took her over 10 years to get her credit sorted.

As far as the 'Dad I've lost my phone' scam is concerned, it would be worth having some coded phrase shared between family members so that unless it was included the recipient would know it was a scam.

Wow this thread is akin to a stoning- bet some of the posters on here would have revelled at the chance to watch a hanging back in the day!

Sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't. But as someone else said, its vulnerable people who gamble and lose all their money too, and no-one thinks they should get it back every time do they?

"They pay for it out of profits"

Im afraid it's not that simple. It becomes cost of doing business and they take their costs and then they work out how to keep their profits aka return to shareholders the same by passing the costs along to those who use their service. That may be the charges you pay for or reduction in staffing levels or some other way to either increase revenue or reduce costs.
But either way I am sure that they don't reduce return to shareholders.

A lot of the older people who fall for these 'romance scams' where a stunning 26 years old falls madly for a less than lovely 60+ years old, and I say that as a ltl 75 years old, are not victims of crime, they're victims of their own delusions. Why is it not possible for people to acknowledge their own short-comings, nothing's ever their fault?

It tends to be pretty vulnerable people who are successfully manipulated by criminals.

Exactly this. Plus banks also get into trouble for holding up people's funds if the person is deemed to be competent. It's a very tricky tightrope.

We just need to be better informed about these scams and to have improved support for people who are vulnerable and/or lonely so they are less likely to be scammed.

It might encourage people not to fall for the same shit.

Giving everyone their money back no matter how stupid they've been...you might as well tell people to fling their money at every Nigerian prince on the internet. Sure why not, the bank will refund you anyway!

Blaming the victims of crime serves no useful purpose.

It's not always someone's 'wee mum'

Some high-flying/highly qualified people get caught out too

People see what they want to see

Exactly!! I find it hard to have sympathy for them.

There's a Facebook page for over 50 dating. It's absolutely shit, but I've not come off it because I just can't believe the people on there.

Glam, good looking pictures of young women pretending to want an older man. Hundreds of replies from old, ugly and probably very lonely men. It's complete madness. As if a young girl would want them.

And it's not as if their English is very good either.

It just amazes me.

It's UK Finance fraud report for H1 2022