Not upheld: Fraud reimbursement (APP scams) complaint against Barclays Bank UK PLC

Decision detail

Summary

Ms A fell victim to a job scam and made 12 payments totalling £20,720 from her Barclays account between September 2023, which were converted to cryptocurrency and sent to scammers. Barclays intervened on three occasions and spoke to Ms A about suspicious activity, but she provided false cover stories about shopping and home renovations rather than disclosing the scam. The ombudsman found that although Barclays' interventions could have been better, they would not have prevented the scam because Ms A was deliberately deceiving Barclays and was determined to continue sending funds, as evidenced by her opening new accounts when other providers blocked her. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

Although Barclays' fraud interventions could have been more thorough, the ombudsman found that even with better interventions, the scam would not have been prevented. Ms A was deliberately concealing the true nature of the payments and providing detailed false cover stories. She was under the scammers' spell and determined to continue sending funds. When other providers blocked her accounts, she simply opened new accounts and continued the scam. Therefore, it would not be reasonable to require Barclays to refund the losses, as Barclays could not have prevented the scam given the circumstances and Ms A's deliberate deception.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website