by Tech giant Revolut has seen a huge rise in fraud cases – according to several industry experts, hackers are increasingly targeting their customers and accounts to carry out sophisticated scams, according to British tabloid ‘Money Mail’.
Revolut provides checking account-style banking where users can make payments online and in stores using a debit card. It currently has 6 million customers, many of whom are attracted by the free spending offer on their card abroad. The UK-based company could be close to receiving a full banking licence, which would allow it to offer financial products such as loans, mortgages and credit cards.
However, the reality is more ‘complicated’: the company, hailed as one of the UK’s biggest ‘fintech’ successes, has been the victim of many scams – the number of complaints made to ‘Action Fraud’ rose to 7,198 in 2022. An 81% increase from the 3,975 recorded in 2021: this is the fourth highest figure for any company offering current account services, just behind Barclays, Lloyds and Santander.
In 2023, the trend accelerated, with 573 crime reports in January alone, making Revolut the most complained-about ‘banking’ company behind only Barclays, although it has far fewer customers than conventional banks.
According to experts, there have been Revolut customers targeted with convincing phishing links in text messages, asking them to verify details to avoid seeing their accounts frozen – when victims click on the link and enter details on a fake login page , hackers gain access to your accounts.
Founded by 38-year-old Nikolay Storonsky, a British businessman who grew up in Russia, Revolut offers current account banking without Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) protection or overdraft facilities – the FSCS protects users up to £85k.
Revolut upheld 56% of customer complaints last year, the highest among the top ten “banking” companies on the list. Just over half of this year’s complaints involved authorization of push payment fraud, where a victim is tricked into sending money to a cybercriminal.
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