Not upheld: unauthorized loan application / alleged identity theft complaint against Zopa Bank Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Mr A complained that a £20,000 loan was fraudulently taken out in his name by a passenger who briefly had access to his phone on 26 April 2024. However, the loan application was made on 29 April 2024 at 1am, three days later, and funds were credited to Mr A's genuine bank account. Mr A subsequently used approximately £8,000 of the funds to pay off his own credit card and set up direct debit repayments to Zopa, yet claimed no knowledge of the loan. The ombudsman found Mr A's account implausible and contradictory, concluding it was more likely than not that Mr A took out the loan himself. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found Mr A's account of events implausible for several reasons: (1) the alleged third party would have needed to be in Mr A's car at 1am to make the application and again at 3pm to make transfers, but the car journey was on 26 April, three days earlier; (2) crediting funds to Mr A's own account would be of little benefit to an alleged fraudster; (3) Mr A's statements were contradictory - he told the service 'no one else was informed about the loan apart from myself' suggesting knowledge, then later claimed ignorance; (4) Mr A used £8,000 of the funds for his own benefit and made repayments via direct debit, indicating knowledge and control of the account; (5) bank statements clearly identified the credit source as Zopa, yet Mr A took no action during the cooling-off period. The ombudsman concluded it was more likely than not that Mr A took out the loan himself.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website