Imagine a situation where you’ve built up your life savings and you’re ready to pay your solicitor your deposit (likely tens of thousands of pounds) to finalise the deal on your new home. You receive an email from your solicitor with the details of where you need to send the money. Only some days later does your real solicitor call you and ask you to send over the money… After some back and forth you realise that someone has hacked your emails and learned of your impending house purchase. They’ve written a very convincing email that looks as if it is from your solicitor and now your money is gone…

This is a real nightmare scenario that has unfortunately become a reality for many people. These frauds are typically referred to as invoice or mandate frauds. Fraudsters look for situations where you’d be likely to send large sums from your account, and try to insert themselves into the process. When successful, they’ll have managed to convince you that they’re the conveyancer, builder, or anyone else who was due a large sum of money. An estimated £114 million was lost to invoice frauds in 2019 alone, with just 28% of funds returned to victims.

I’ve fallen victim to an invoice fraud. Can I get a refund?

RRFCorp will be able to help you get your money back. Fill in our claim form to see whether we’re able to act on your behalf to get your bank to refund you the money lost to the invoice fraud. RRFCorp is a claims management company. Check our our simple fees page to understand how we charge, but it’s easy to manage your case yourself for free! Check out our guidance page on what to do if you’d like to do it yourself. You can complain to your bank, and if you aren’t happy with their response, escalate your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service.