Practical information: what action can I take if I am a victim of fraud?
When considering civil proceedings, there are various causes of action (see our article: What is civil fraud?) that can be pursued and a number of steps that you could consider.
Fraud can be dealt with in different ways by the criminal and civil courts. Criminal proceedings would not result in the recovery of your money. This article focuses on civil proceedings and practical considerations.
Reporting the matter
Depending on the fraud (i.e. how it was committed and by who), it could be reported to:-
- The police (by calling 101)
- Action Fraud (an organisation which would then pass on matters to the police if appropriate)
- The National Crime Agency
- The Serious Fraud Office
- Regulatory bodies (e.g. The Financial Conduct Authority, The Solicitors Regulation Authority, General Medical Council).
Think before transferring any further funds / passing over control of assets
Often, a fraudulent scheme encourages the victim to pay further money to ‘unlock’ funds or to assist the fraudster in ‘accessing’ funds.
You should stop to think before making such payments. Most legitimate schemes will have various ways to verify the legitimacy of any payment that you are being asked to make without you relying on the telephone numbers or email addresses that you have already been in contact with (which may be spoofs). There are various tactics that fraudsters use such as applying time pressure or saying that you, your family or your assets will be ‘at risk’ – and you ought also be wary of these such pressures.
Consider reporting the matter to your bank
Where you have paid via bank transfer, debit card or credit card, you should consider reporting the matter to your bank or provider.
Who is the fraudster? Obtaining evidence
Often the person that you have been dealing with will not have given you their authentic details – or they are being used as a mule.
It is important that any civil proceedings are brought against the individuals or corporate entities that are responsible for the fraud. This might include those that directly induced you to make payments, those to which you have paid money, those which have had your money in their possession and/or those who have provided your details to others.
Many fraudsters take great care to hide their identity, but they are not always as untraceable as they think they are. Steps can be taken to ascertain information which can lead to finding out who has been responsible.
You can apply to the court for an order compelling a financial institution (e.g. a bank which holds the bank account to which you have sent your money) to disclose an account holder’s details.
You can apply to the court for an order compelling say, an innocent third-party to disclose information and/or documentation in their possession which may provide details of who the fraudster is. Theis is generally only ordered where such information is not available from other sources.
Searching public registers
You can search public registers such as Companies House and the Land Registry (some records are accessible without charge and some are to be paid for). This could lead to obtaining further information about connected individuals, corporate entities or properties.
Private investigation
Private investigation companies and investigators can be instructed to carry out desktop searches from public and other paid-for databases or for a boots-on-the-ground investigation whereby leads are followed to try to trace relevant individuals or corporate entities, as well as their assets.
Search order
You can apply to the court for an order that a fraudster’s premises should be searched so that evidence can be removed where you can demonstrate: your underlying claim, that serious damage will otherwise occur, that they have incriminating documentation at their premises and that there is a real prospect of destruction or removal of evidence if the order is not made without notice to them.
Pre-action disclosure order
You can ask the court, prior to issuing the claim, to make an order that someone / an entity which is likely to be a party to your claim has information which will help you determine whether the matter can be dealt with without the need for issuing a claim.
Are those responsible worth suing? Do they have your money or other assets?
Once you have identified who is responsible for the fraud and who you can bring a claim against, it is important to be able to take an informed view on whether it would be commercially viable to pursue court proceedings to try to recover your money.
If the fraudster (whether an individual or corporate entity) does not have sufficient money or assets to satisfy a court order, then the court order is essentially worthless – it would be a pyrrhic victory.
You would have 6 years from the date of a court order to enforce it, but recovery in those circumstances may well be limited and monitoring their assets may be an expensive exercise.
Once you know who is responsible, there are several ways to try to establish whether a corporate entity or an individual has assets.
In addition to searching publicly available registers and instructing an investigator (as above), the court can make the following orders.
Freezing order or Freezing injunction
If you can demonstrate that there is a credible cause of action (by producing and issuing a claim form and particulars of claim) and can evidence that there is a real risk of dissipation of assets / your money, then the court can make an order, on your application, that the fraudster must disclose all of his assets (whether in this jurisdiction or any other) and to freeze any such assets so that the fraudster is prohibited from dealing with them pending the outcome of your claim. This is so that you can potentially attach a judgment to the asset(s) in question if your claim is successful.
There are potential costs and other consequences for you as the claimant when making such an application, which you would need to be properly advised on before applying to court.
Order for questioning
Where you have obtained a judgment in your favour, you can apply to the court for an order that the defendant (the fraudster) be compelled to provide information as to their assets, income and expenditure – so that you can determine how best to enforce the judgment. This is not a pre-emptive step – again, this is where you have already obtained a judgment.
How can solicitors help you?
You are not alone. It is a horrible feeling to have been duped but scams are presented in extremely sophisticated ways to catch-out everyone from those that are in some way vulnerable to the most fastidious of investors.
Saunders Law are experienced civil fraud solicitors – with a history and reputation of representing victims in all types of matters – and are here to help you. We provide clear and realistic advice at an early stage and work with investigators (where necessary) to try to establish the relevant information to inform your decision on whether to pursue a claim. We are acutely aware that often, a victim’s hard-earned money or life savings have been taken by fraudsters, and where the spending of further good money after ‘bad’ is a real risk and leaves a bitter taste. We are upfront about our charging arrangements and try to work as commercially as possible so to minimise your spend and maximise your recovery where possible.
The above-mentioned court applications can be very costly and have various risks attached to them for any applicant. We tend to act for parties who have lost hundreds of thousands of pounds or millions of pounds through fraudulent schemes. We can guide you through the various applications and approaches and will speak with you plainly about your prospects of success at each step along the way as well as providing commercial sound advice. Where we consider it appropriate, we will instruct specialist barristers to assist in / opine on the preparation of a claim / application.
Again, we are here to help – get in touch with our team here or on 020 7632 4300.
Nothing in this article constitutes legal advice and we shall not be liable for reliance on the information / links provided. Each case should be assessed on its own merits and advice should be sought on your specific set of circumstances.