A BANK deception which cost a Godstone couple £42,000 has prompted East Surrey MP Sam Gyimah to urge a halt to the "horrifying" scam.
The MP has demanded the banking industry do more to protect customers from "vishing" or "voice phishing"
This is a telephone scam in which victims are deceived into transferring funds to fraudsters posing as representatives of their bank.
It exploits a loophole in the telephone system that allows the line to be kept open up to two minutes after the victim believes the call has ended.
Mr Gyimah said vishing is a type of "mandate fraud" for which the banks refuse to accept liability as the transaction was authorised by the legitimate account holder.
After vigorous lobbying by Mr Gyimah, his constituents were eventually reimbursed by their bank – which insisted the move was purely a gesture of goodwill.
Mr Gyimah has now written to the chief executive of the British Bankers' Association to demand banks take action to protect their customers.
He has also raised the matter with Andrew Tyrie, chairman of the House of Commons Treasury Select Committee.
The MP has called for an industry-wide campaign to raise awareness of scams, and a requirement that banks always confirm their identity to account holders in order to prevent scams.
Mr Gyimah said: "The experience of my constituents and others targeted by this scam is truly horrifying.
"It is not acceptable for banks to shrug their shoulders when they could be doing much more to protect their customers from being hit by scams in the first place.
"Customers are required to prove their identity when calling their bank, and if banks had to do so there would be far fewer of these types of fraud.
"More needs to be done to protect their customers, before thousands more are robbed of their life savings."