Not upheld: Fraud reimbursement (APP scams) complaint against Monzo Bank Ltd

Decision detail

Summary

Mr K paid £100 for a matrimonial and matchmaking service and later claimed he was the victim of a scam when he did not receive the service and lost contact with the provider. Monzo classified the matter as a civil dispute and declined to reimburse him. The ombudsman examined whether the payment met the CRM Code definition of an APP scam, which requires proof that the customer was deceived into transferring funds to a different person or for fraudulent purposes. After reviewing chat messages, voice messages, and phone calls between Mr K and the service provider, the ombudsman found evidence that the provider was delivering a service consistent with Mr K's expectations, with interactions continuing until April 2025. The ombudsman concluded Mr K failed to prove he was the victim of an APP scam and upheld Monzo's classification as a civil dispute.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman applied the CRM Code definition of an APP scam, which requires that either the customer was deceived into transferring funds to a different person than intended, or transferred funds for what they believed were legitimate purposes but which were in fact fraudulent. The evidence showed that Mr S appeared to be providing a service in keeping with what Mr K was expecting, with ongoing interactions and arrangements being made. The ombudsman found insufficient evidence that Mr S's purpose at the time of payment was different from Mr K's stated purpose, and therefore the payment did not meet the APP scam definition. The matter was correctly classified as a civil dispute.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website