Advance-fee scam refund — lottery, inheritance, and 419 fraud.

You won a lottery you never entered. You are the sole heir to a distant relative’s estate. A foreign businessman needs your help moving millions, and you will be rewarded. These are advance-fee frauds — and they are covered by UK law. Here is how to get your money back.

Can I get my money back from an advance-fee scam?

Yes, in most cases where payments were bank transfers from a UK account. The PSR Mandatory Reimbursement Scheme (in force from 7 October 2024) requires your bank to refund APP fraud losses up to £85,000. Advance-fee fraud is one of the named APP fraud categories under the PSR scheme — each fee payment to "release" the supposed prize or inheritance qualifies.

I sent money multiple times over several months. Can I claim for all of it?

Yes. Each payment made as part of the same advance-fee fraud is part of a single APP fraud claim. The £85,000 PSR cap applies per claim, not per payment. The 13-month reporting window runs from the date of your last payment to the scammer, meaning a long series of payments may still fall within the window.

I never received the lottery prize. Doesn't that confirm I was scammed?

Yes. Non-delivery of the promised prize, inheritance, or loan is the primary evidence of the misrepresentation. Your bank must refund you (under the PSR scheme for bank transfers, or under Section 75 Consumer Credit Act 1974 for credit card payments of £100–£30,000). You do not need the police to confirm the fraud before making a bank claim.

The scam claimed to be from a legitimate organisation (a law firm, a bank). Does that change anything?

It makes your case stronger, not weaker. Impersonation of a legitimate legal or financial entity is a recognised aggravating feature of advance-fee fraud. The credibility of the cover story is evidence that the deception was sophisticated, making it harder for your bank to argue you acted with gross negligence.

My bank says I should have known it was too good to be true. What do I say?

The "too good to be true" argument is routinely used by banks but regularly rejected by the Financial Ombudsman Service. The FOS examines whether the specific presentation of the fraud was plausible at the time, not whether the ideal outcome was improbable. Advance-fee fraud works precisely because the initial "prize" or "inheritance" is presented with convincing legal documentation, institutional-looking letterheads, and professional correspondence.

Can I claim if the scammer used my bank details to make further charges I didn't authorise?

Any transactions you did not authorise are covered by Payment Services Regulations 2017 regulation 76 as unauthorised payment fraud, which is separate from APP fraud under the PSR scheme. Your bank must refund those promptly. File a separate report for unauthorised transactions even if you also have an APP fraud claim for the payments you did authorise.

Scam Refund · Scam Types

Advance-fee scam refund — lottery, inheritance, and 419 fraud.

What advance-fee fraud is

Advance-fee fraud — also known as 419 fraud (after the Nigerian criminal code section it originally violated) — is one of the oldest fraud types in the world, and still among the most lucrative. The core mechanism is always the same: you are told you will receive a large sum of money, but first you must pay a series of smaller fees to release it. The large sum never materialises. The fees keep growing until the victim stops paying or runs out of money.

UK Finance reports advance-fee fraud as a persistent and significant category. Individual losses vary enormously — from hundreds to hundreds of thousands of pounds — depending on how long the victim remains engaged. The average case involves multiple payments made over days, weeks, or months, which is why the PSR scheme’s 13-month window from the last payment is so important.

Lottery and prize fraud

You receive a letter, email, or social media message telling you that you have won a major prize in a lottery you did not knowingly enter. To claim the prize, you must pay a processing fee, insurance, or customs duty. After paying, another fee appears. The prize never arrives.

A lawyer, bank official, or estate administrator contacts you claiming that a relative (often a distant or unknown one) has died leaving a substantial estate. Because the estate has no other claimants, you are the sole beneficiary. Legal and administrative fees must be paid to release the inheritance. The fees escalate. The estate does not exist.

Business opportunity fraud (419)

A foreign official, businessman, or diplomat needs to transfer a large sum of money out of their country and asks for your help, offering you a generous percentage. To facilitate the transfer, you must pay legal fees, bribes, or banking charges. The transfer never happens.

You apply for a loan (sometimes in response to an advert) and are told you have been approved, but must first pay an upfront “insurance” or “processing” fee. The loan is never disbursed. The fee is stolen.

Particularly cruel: after being defrauded once, victims are approached by a “recovery agent” who claims to be able to retrieve their lost funds for an upfront fee. This is a second advance-fee fraud targeting people who are already victims.

Red flags to recognise

What to do in the first 24 hours

The legal refund pathway

Advance-fee fraud payments made by bank transfer from a UK account are Authorised Push Payment (APP) fraud, specifically listed as an in-scope category under the PSR Mandatory Reimbursement Scheme (in force 7 October 2024). Your sending bank must reimburse you up to

per claim — covering the aggregate of all related fee payments — unless it can prove gross negligence.

The key principle: a string of advance-fee payments made over time is treated as a single APP fraud claim, not as multiple separate claims with separate caps. The 13-month window runs from the date of the last payment. A

applies to standard consumers; vulnerable consumers cannot be charged it.

For credit card payments of £100 to £30,000, Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 gives you a separate route against your credit card issuer. The Limitation Act 1980 section 5 gives you six years for a civil claim, but the PSR scheme’s 13-month window is shorter and controls for bank claims.

How banks refuse — and how to respond

“You should have known this was too good to be true.”

The Financial Ombudsman Service regularly rejects this argument when advanced by banks. The question is not whether the promised prize was improbable in the abstract, but whether the specific presentation was credible to a reasonable person. Advance-fee operations invest heavily in professional-looking documentation precisely to overcome scepticism.

“You made the payments over a long period despite red flags.”

Persistence in paying does not equate to gross negligence. Scammers deliberately escalate the emotional investment and financial stakes to overcome increasing doubt. Each new fee is presented as the last one before the release. This is the intended design of the fraud, not recklessness on the victim’s part.

“We have no evidence of fraud.”

Provide your evidence bundle: all correspondence, the documents produced by the scammer, your bank statements, and the Action Fraud crime reference number. You need only show fraud on the balance of probabilities at the FOS, not beyond reasonable doubt.

. For related fraud types, see our guides on

(which often combine with advance-fee) and

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Not legal advice. This guide is for general information only. For advice specific to your circumstances, consult a regulated legal professional or contact Citizens Advice.