Egidio
Prevention and reimbursement · HSBC

HSBC customer: what the "Fraud and Cyber Awareness" app actually covers — and where the grey zone starts.

A sourced, neutral reading of what HSBC states officially about fraud — not to talk you into switching banks, just to help you know where you stand.

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What HSBC actually offers

HSBC's free Fraud and Cyber Awareness app — open to non-customers too — pushes real-time scam alerts and includes a self-test quiz. Business customers additionally get Call Status, to verify a call genuinely comes from HSBC. None of this changes your underlying reimbursement rights, which follow the same mandatory PSR rules as every UK provider: up to £85,000, with a possible £100 excess.

Free, for everyone The Fraud and Cyber Awareness app is downloadable by anyone — customer or not — on Android and iOS, with real-time alerts on new scams.
Call Status A business-banking feature letting you verify a call genuinely originates from HSBC, inside the Business Banking app.
“Not persuaded HSBC was responsible”
The outcome of a real Financial Ombudsman case: a customer's investment-scam complaint against HSBC was reviewed after the bank said it couldn't determine whether the company involved was a scam or simply a failed investment — and the complaint was not upheld.
Financial Ombudsman Service, decision reference DRN-5129724
What this means, precisely. The gap that matters most in practice is between a scam and a failed legitimate investment. HSBC's own position in this case was that it could not be certain which one applied — and without that certainty, the mandatory reimbursement rules for confirmed APP fraud don't automatically apply.

What actually happens in practice

Real Ombudsman decision

In decision DRN-5129724, a customer (referred to as Mr A) complained that HSBC refused to reimburse money lost in what he believed was an investment scam. HSBC stated it could not make a reimbursement decision because it was unable to determine with confidence whether the company involved was a scam or a legitimate investment that had simply failed. The independent investigator considered the complaint, found the customer had likely fallen victim to an APP scam, but was not persuaded that HSBC was responsible for reimbursing the loss — and the complaint was not upheld.

Source: Financial Ombudsman Service, decision DRN-5129724, consulted 30/07/2026.

Why Egidio, alongside this

Egidio doesn't replace HSBC's protection, and doesn't try to. It acts one step earlier: detecting and blocking the manipulation attempt — the call, the message — before any payment is ever authorised. That's the difference between a claim decided case-by-case after the loss, and the loss never happening.

For the full comparison across UK banks and networks, see the "Before the Claim" page →

Frequently asked questions

Does HSBC's Fraud and Cyber Awareness app change my reimbursement rights?

No. It's a free prevention and education tool — real-time scam alerts and a self-test quiz — separate from the mandatory APP fraud reimbursement rules, which apply to HSBC the same way they apply to every UK provider.

Will HSBC always reimburse an investment scam?

Not automatically. A real Ombudsman case (DRN-5129724) shows HSBC can decline on the basis that it isn't certain whether a loss was a scam or a failed legitimate investment — and the Ombudsman didn't uphold the customer's complaint in that instance.

Does Egidio replace HSBC's fraud protection?

No. Egidio is not a bank and does not process reimbursement claims. It acts earlier — detecting and blocking the manipulation attempt before any payment is authorised at all.