Not upheld: Fraud reimbursement (APP scams) complaint against eToro Money UK Ltd

Decision detail

Summary

Mr S complained that eToro Money UK Ltd failed to prevent him losing approximately £65,000 to a scam between November 2023 and January 2024. Mr S made a series of authorised transfers, purchases and crypto withdrawals from his eToro account, which he later discovered were part of a scam orchestrated by someone coaching him on what to tell his bank and other payment providers. The ombudsman found that although eToro could have taken additional protective steps, it could not have uncovered the scam because Mr S was under the scammer's influence and would have provided false answers to any inquiries, as he did with other firms. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

Under the Payment Services Regulations 2017, Mr S is presumed liable for authorised payments in the first instance. Although eToro could have taken additional steps to protect customers from fraud, the ombudsman found that even if eToro had made additional checks or asked Mr S to confirm why he was making exchanges into crypto, Mr S would have provided false answers (as he did with other firms) because he was under the influence of the scammer. Therefore, eToro could not have uncovered the scam on balance, and the firm did not treat Mr S unfairly.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website