Not upheld: Fraud reimbursement (APP scams) complaint against Revolut Ltd

Decision detail

Summary

E, a company, lost €4,300 to an email intercept scam when they made an international payment to what they believed was a logistics company but was actually a fraudster. Revolut declined to reimburse the loss, and E complained to the FOS. The ombudsman found that Revolut processed the payment in accordance with E's instructions and that international payments are not covered by scam reimbursement rules. The transaction did not stand out as unusual given the account's history of similar international payments, so Revolut had no reasonable grounds to question it. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that Revolut processed the payment in accordance with E's instructions and the Payment Services Regulations 2017. International payments are not covered by scam reimbursement rules, so Revolut was not obliged to refund. The €4,300 payment did not stand out as unusual given the account's history of similar and higher international payments, so Revolut had no reasonable grounds to question it further. While Revolut took longer than expected to contact the receiving bank, this delay did not ultimately cause additional loss as the receiving bank declined to return the funds regardless.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website