Not upheld: scam and fraud liability complaint against Revolut Ltd

Decision detail

Summary

Mr J was scammed by an individual who posed as a romantic interest and directed him to invest in a fake trading platform. Over six months (December 2024 to May 2025), Mr J transferred almost £13,000 from his Revolut account to a cryptocurrency platform, which was then sent to the scammer's wallet. When Mr J discovered the scam in May 2025 and reported it to Revolut in October 2025, he complained that Revolut should have prevented the losses. The ombudsman found that Revolut was not liable because the individual transactions were not suspicious, no concerning spending pattern developed, and Revolut's intervention on 16 May 2025 was proportionate to the risk presented at that time.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

Revolut is expected to process authorised payments in accordance with regulations and terms. While Revolut should remain alert to fraud, additional checks were not required in this case. The payments were sent in smaller transactions over several months to a legitimate crypto-platform, which individually were not suspicious. No concerning pattern of spending developed that would suggest heightened fraud risk. Revolut's intervention on 16 May 2025 was proportionate to the risk presented at that time, and Mr J's responses did not indicate a scam. Revolut did not miss an opportunity to prevent the losses.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website