The “approve payment” bank scam you need to know about
6 min read
September 10, 2026
A scammer calls pretending to be from your bank. They already have your card details, so they use them to start a payment. When an approval request appears in your banking app, they tell you to press “approve” to block or reverse it.
In reality, pressing that button authorises the payment. The scammer may repeat the process, route your money through a crypto-currency exchange or add your card to a digital wallet using a one-time passcode you give them.
When you ask your bank for a refund, it may argue that you approved the transactions yourself. That can leave you outside the mandatory reimbursement rules covering many bank transfer scams.
How criminals talk you into approving payments
The fraudster usually claims to work for your bank’s security team, the police or a financial regulator. They may know your name, where you bank and part of your card number information obtained through phishing, a data breach or another scam.
They tell you that someone is attacking your account and that you must act immediately. While keeping you on the phone, they might instruct you to:
- approve a card payment to cancel it
- move money between accounts in your own name
- transfer money to a supposed “safe account”
- read out a one-time passcode, or
- confirm the addition of your card to a digital wallet.
Your money often passes through a legitimate cryptocurrency exchange, digital wallet or transfer service before reaching the criminal and that extra stage can make recovering it much harder.
Why your bank might refuse a refund
Your refund rights can depend on how the money left your account. If a criminal uses your card without permission, the payment will normally count as unauthorised. Your bank will generally be expected to refund you unless it has a valid reason not to.
If a scammer tricks you into transferring money directly to a criminal’s account, the transaction may qualify as authorised push payment, or APP fraud. Mandatory reimbursement rules cover qualifying APP scam payments made through Faster Payments, up to £85,000 per claim.
But card payments can fall into a gap, your bank may argue that you authorised the transaction because you pressed “approve” or supplied a passcode. If the payment went to a genuine wallet, exchange or transfer service, it may also say that the company provided the requested service, even though a scammer controlled what happened next.
The transaction may therefore fall outside the mandatory APP refund rules. Chargeback and Section 75 may not offer an easy solution either, particularly when the company taking the card payment delivered the service described. That doesn’t mean you should accept your bank’s first decision.
Thousands have already complained
Banks initially rejected many of those cases, but the Ombudsman upheld an average of 27% in the consumer’s favour. More than one in four people covered by the figures therefore secured a better outcome after complaining. Every case depends on its own facts. However, the figures show why an initial refusal doesn’t have to end your claim.
What to do immediately
Contact your bank as soon as you realise what has happened. Use the number on the back of your card, your bank’s official app or a number taken directly from its website. Never use contact details supplied by the caller.
Ask the bank to:
- block your card and secure your accounts
- stop any payments that remain pending
- contact the receiving payment provider
- remove unfamiliar devices or digital wallets
- attempt to trace or recover the money; and
- give you a fraud reference number
Change your banking password and any password you’ve reused elsewhere. Check every recent transaction, including small payments a criminal may have used to test your card. Report the incident to the UK’s official fraud reporting service and keep the reference number.
Save your evidence
Keep all messages, emails, call records and payment notifications. Take screenshots before anything disappears. Write down what happened while you can still remember the details. Record what the caller claimed, what they asked you to do and what you believed each approval would achieve.
Don’t simply tell the bank, “I authorised the payment.” Explain that you pressed the button because the fraudster told you it would block or reverse a transaction. Pressing a button shows how the payment happened. It doesn’t necessarily prove that you understood you were agreeing to pay someone.
Organise and manage your complaint
If your bank refuses to refund you, make a formal complaint in writing, you can use Resolver to contact the correct complaints department, record your case and keep your supporting evidence in one place. Resolver stores your correspondence and creates a clear timeline, so you don’t have to reconstruct the complaint whenever a new person handles it.
Set out the events in order and attach your evidence. Ask the bank:
- why it considers the payment properly authorised;
- what fraud checks it carried out;
- whether the activity was unusual for your account;
- why it failed to intervene;
- what it did when you reported the scam; and
- whether it tried to recover the funds.
If the bank accuses you of gross negligence, ask it to identify exactly what you did and what evidence supports that conclusion. Don’t accept a standard response that fails to address your circumstances.
You should also complain to any wallet, exchange or payment service involved. Ask what checks it made and whether it can freeze or recover any remaining funds. Using Resolver helps you keep your position consistent across each stage. You can store responses, track deadlines and escalate the complaint if the provider fails to resolve it.
When to escalate your complaint
For a fraud or payment services complaint, a financial provider should normally send you a final response within 15 business days. In some cases, it can take up to 35 business days, but the firm should explain why.
You can escalate your case to the Financial Ombudsman Service if the provider:
- rejects your complaint;
- offers only part of your loss;
- sends a final response you disagree with; or
- misses the complaint deadline.
Resolver can help you track the provider’s response, notify you of the escalation timeline and manage the escalation process without losing any evidence or correspondence already attached to your case. Escalation to the Financial Ombudsman Service is free, send the Ombudsman your timeline of events, evidence and the provider’s final response. Explain what you believed you were approving. Highlight any activity the bank should arguably have questioned, such as several large payments, a new crypto-currency recipient or spending that looked completely different from your normal behaviour.
You can start a case with Resolver here
You usually have six months from the date of the provider’s final response to take your complaint to the Ombudsman, so check dates before you progress.
Stop the scam before it starts
Your bank, the police and financial regulators won’t ask you to move money to a “safe account”, neither will they ask you to share a one-time passcode or approve a payment to cancel it. If you receive an alarming call, hang up. Don’t open your banking app or approve anything while the caller is on the line.
Contact your bank independently and read every payment screen carefully. Check the amount, merchant and wording before pressing a button. If you suspect you’ve already been caught, act quickly, but don’t blame yourself. These criminals deliberately create panic and impersonate organisations you trust.
If your bank refuses a refund, challenge it. Start and manage your complaint through Resolver, keep your evidence organised and escalate the case if the bank’s response doesn’t stack up.
If you have any thoughts on this topic, or any other consumer issues you would like us to cover, feel free to get in touch with us at support@resolver.co.uk
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