Not upheld: scam - failure to prevent unauthorised payment complaint against Wise Payments Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Mr B complained that Wise Payments Limited failed to prevent him from making seven payments totalling £36,000 to an investment scam in October-November 2021. He reported the scam in 2025 and Wise refunded 25% of one payment. The ombudsman found that while Wise should have intervened earlier, an intervention would not have prevented the payments because Mr B was deliberately misleading his bank about the transactions, actively seeking ways to avoid payment blocks, and would likely have bypassed any scam warnings. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

Although Wise should have intervened, the ombudsman found that an intervention would not have prevented the payments because: (1) Mr B would not have provided accurate information about the payments if questioned; (2) Mr B was deliberately seeking ways to mislead his bank and avoid payment blocks; (3) Mr B was aware of the risks and was actively trying to circumvent controls; (4) even if warned about investment scams, Mr B would likely have bypassed the warnings as he believed he was following guidance from a previously successful investment contact.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website