Expert blog series: Victim Support

Victim Support (VS) wants a better deal for victims, particularly those who are susceptible to fraud, the most prevalent crime in the country. We need to make it clearer to people what they can expect from the banking, telecoms and retail sectors to protect them from and, if needed, support them where they have been a victim of fraud.

Working with Cifas member organisations, VS aims to agree five promises to form a Victims Pledge. VS is not suggesting that members abandon current good practices; the purpose of the Victims Pledge will be to help people understand the service and protection they are entitled to from member organisations.

The foundations of the Victims Pledge should be based on the principle that people deserve the right support, at the right time, from the people best placed to provide that support.

The following are suggested promises which could be included in a Victims Pledge:

• We will never ask you for your pin number or for you to surrender your card to a courier;
• Where a customer has acted in accordance with your terms and conditions, they can expect a refund to cover all or part of their loss within a defined time frame;
• Customers who report fraud are not passed from pillar to post and there should be an effective system in place, with people trained in how to speak to people affected by fraud;
• Signatories will work with law enforcement to help prevent fraud by identifying customers, within the confines of data protection, who may be susceptible or vulnerable to fraud;
• Victims of fraud are referred to organisations better able and equipped to support them, such as VS.

VS is championing this Pledge because people affected by fraud deserve a base level of protection and support regardless of who they bank with, where they shop or who provides their mobile service.

Fraud can have a devastating and long lasting impact on people’s lives so we need to work together to prevent fraud where possible and provide the right kind of support to people when they most need it.