People who are the victims of so-called "vishing" scams cannot always rely on their bank to compensate them, a study has suggested.

In nearly two-thirds of cases the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) found that banks were not responsible for victims' losses. It looked at 200 examples of the telephone fraud, in which account holders lost up to £100,000 each. But it ruled that the bank was liable for those losses in only 37% of cases. In 63% of them, consumers were left without compensation, having, in effect, given their own money away.
As a result it is warning that account holders need to be much more aware of the risks. "We really want to share what we are seeing in the complaints we handle, and encourage people to get talking about scams with their friends and relatives so they become more alert to the risks," said Caroline Wayman, the chief ombudsman.

'No hang-up' scam

"Vishing" - or voice phishing - occurs when fraudsters phone up, posing as the police or the victim's bank. Last year the scam cost customers £24m, according to Financial Fraud Action. Usually the fraudsters persuade their victims to move money from their account....Read more here