Not upheld: scam and fraud - refund claim complaint against Metro Bank PLC

Decision detail

Summary

Mr N complained that Metro Bank PLC refused to refund £15,500 he lost in an alleged job scam involving hotel reviews. Metro Bank did not uphold the complaint and attempted but failed to recover the funds. The ombudsman found the evidence of the scam insufficient, as the conversations with scammers were undated and lacked detail about expected actions or commission. Furthermore, Mr N could not provide complete account statements to establish the source of the funds from his credit card, bank loan, or e-money provider. The ombudsman concluded that without establishing both that a scam occurred and that Mr N was entitled to the funds, Metro Bank could not be held responsible for the loss.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman could not fairly conclude Mr N was a victim of a scam due to insufficient evidence. The conversations provided were undated and lacked detail about expected actions or commission payments. Additionally, Mr N could not provide full statements from the credit card and bank loan accounts to establish the source of funds, nor could he provide statements showing payments leaving those accounts and arriving with Metro Bank. The e-money provider payments could not be traced to their origin. Without establishing that Mr N was a scam victim and that he was entitled to the funds, the ombudsman could not ask Metro to refund the payments.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website