Not upheld: scam reimbursement / APP fraud complaint against Barclays Bank UK PLC

Decision detail

Summary

Ms A fell victim to an employment and investment scam in July 2025, making five card payments totalling £5,220 from her Barclays account to her own e-money account, from which the funds were transferred to cryptocurrency platforms and lost. Barclays declined to reimburse her, citing that payments were to an account in her own name and therefore outside the scope of the CRM Code. The Ombudsman found that while Barclays should have questioned the final £3,000 payment, Ms A would likely have provided false information as coached by the fraudster, meaning the intervention would not have prevented the loss. The complaint was not upheld, and Barclays was not required to reimburse Ms A.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

While the Ombudsman acknowledged that Barclays should have questioned Ms A about the £3,000 payment, the key issue is whether Barclays' failure to do so caused the loss. The Ombudsman determined that Ms A was being coached by the fraudster and had already misled her e-money provider about the payment purpose. Therefore, had Barclays questioned her, she would likely have provided false information as well, meaning the intervention would not have prevented the scam. The CRM Code, which would have required reimbursement in some APP scam cases, does not apply to payments made to the customer's own account or by card. The Ombudsman must determine whether Barclays' inaction specifically caused the loss, and concluded it did not.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website