Not upheld: fraud claim handling and dispute resolution complaint against Santander UK Plc

Decision detail

Summary

Mr G complained about how Santander handled his fraud claim after receiving a scam call impersonating the bank regarding an unauthorized payment to a travel agent. Although Mr G claimed he did not share his one-time passcode (OTP), Santander initially declined the claim but later refunded the payment and paid £80 compensation after concluding he was likely tricked into sharing the code. The ombudsman found Santander acted reasonably in processing the properly authenticated payment, fairly assessing the fraud claim based on available evidence, and that the existing compensation was sufficient. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that Santander correctly authenticated the payment at the time using proper two-factor authentication and the payment value to a travel agent was not inherently suspicious. Once the fraud was reported, Santander reasonably assessed that Mr G likely shared the OTP with the scammer, as there was no evidence of alternative access methods. The ombudsman agreed it was fair for Santander not to provide immediate refund given the conflict between Mr G's account and technical evidence, though Santander ultimately gave Mr G the benefit of the doubt. The £80 compensation for small errors was deemed sufficient and in line with FOS guidelines.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website