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

Decision detail

Summary

Mr A complained that Barclays refused to reimburse three payments of £200 each that he claimed were made under duress after he was threatened by unhappy concert ticket recipients outside a venue. Barclays declined to raise a scam claim, stating the matter involved criminal conduct that should be reported to police. The ombudsman found that the payments did not meet the definition of an APP scam under the FPS Reimbursement Rules, as there was insufficient evidence of criminal fraud or deception, the recipients were the intended payees, and the matter constituted a private civil dispute rather than criminal fraud. The ombudsman upheld Barclays' decision not to reimburse the payments.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman concluded that the payments did not meet the definition of an APP scam under the FPS Reimbursement Rules because: (1) there was insufficient evidence of criminal fraud or deception; (2) the recipients were the intended payees; (3) the payments appeared to be made for the purpose Mr A intended (refunding unhappy ticket buyers); and (4) the matter constituted a private civil dispute between Mr A and the ticket recipients rather than criminal fraud. The ombudsman noted that while Mr A claimed duress and threats, the Reimbursement Rules do not cover payments made under duress, coercion, or blackmail, which are matters for police investigation.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website