Partially upheld: scam and failure to intervene in suspicious transactions complaint against Santander UK Plc

Decision detail

Summary

Ms R was victim of a phone scam where she was instructed to purchase gift cards and share the codes with scammers, resulting in seven transactions totalling £1,850 on her credit card on 27 October 2025. Santander refused to refund the transactions, arguing Ms R had authorised them. The ombudsman found that while the payments were authorised, Santander should have intervened by the fourth payment due to the unusual pattern of four identical £250 payments within three minutes and the prior debit card block. However, the ombudsman also found Ms R contributed to her loss by continuing payments despite suspecting a scam, warranting a 50% deduction. The complaint was partially upheld, requiring Santander to refund 50% of payments from the fourth payment onwards with interest adjustments.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

Although Ms R authorised the payments using her genuine card and PIN, Santander should have intervened by the fourth payment because the pattern of four identical payments within three minutes was unusual for the account and Ms R's debit card had been blocked the previous day. Had Santander intervened, it would have either blocked the payment or contacted Ms R, which would have revealed the scam and prevented further losses. However, Ms R contributed to her loss by suspecting a scam but continuing to make payments, justifying a 50% deduction for contributory negligence. The £50 already paid for poor customer service was found to be fair.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website