It has been reported that consumers as well as small businesses are being made to suffer for weeks from a critical shortage of cash before their banks are agreeing to reimburse them for fraud.

Banks have been accused of dragging their heels when it comes to refunding customers who have had their money fraudulently taken from their accounts.

The statistics were revealed by the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). The FOS is the authority responsible for dealing with complaints and disputes between customers and their financial institution. What the figures show is that disputes about card transactions are on the increase. Currently the ombudsman has to deal with roughly 20 to 30 of these disputes per week. Reports of alleged debit card fraud are reported to have gone up significantly in the past few years.

The FOS has said the reason so many customers are now being made to wait longer for there money back is because banks are taking a much harder line now than they used to in the past. In past years if someone claimed to be a victim of fraud banks would generally give them the benefit of the doubt but now more often than not banks will say they suspect the account holder or another member of the family is probably responsible for the missing funds.

Whilst this may be the case, with the increase in online shopping, many card customers are falling victim to hackers stealing card details from websites.

However many victims of fraud are reporting that the reason banks are giving for the delay is the sheer volume of fraud cases that they are having to deal with each week. This is despite the new Chip and Pin system, designed to cut fraud.

The message to card holders is more than ever to be vigilant as to where you shop to avoid fraud. Identity thieves make their money by taking out loans and credit in your name. Card fraudsters charge items to your account and if it cannot be proved that it wasn’t you, can leave you dealing with adverse credit.