Upheld: unauthorised transactions / fraud complaint against eToro Money UK Ltd

Decision detail

Summary

Mrs W complained that eToro Money UK Ltd refused to refund her for two unauthorised transactions totalling £1,270 made from her money account in October 2024. The transactions occurred after Mrs W fell victim to an impersonation scam, during which a fraudster obtained a replacement eSIM for her mobile phone and gained access to her eToro accounts. eToro confirmed the compromise but argued Mrs W was grossly negligent in safeguarding her security details. The ombudsman upheld the complaint, finding Mrs W did not authorise the transactions and that being victim of a sophisticated scam did not constitute gross negligence. eToro was instructed to refund the £1,270 plus 8% simple interest from the date of the transactions.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that Mrs W did not authorise the two disputed transactions under the Payment Services Regulations 2017. While eToro argued gross negligence, the ombudsman determined this high bar was not met, as Mrs W was victim of a sophisticated impersonation scam and the compromise of her mobile number meant eToro was communicating with the fraudster, not Mrs W. The ombudsman was satisfied Mrs W reported the fraud promptly upon discovery and that her four-week delay in noticing the compromise was reasonable given her limited account activity.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website