Not upheld: scam / fraud reimbursement complaint against Revolut Ltd

Decision detail

Summary

Ms R lost £2,881.35 to an impersonation scam in January 2026 after being tricked into sending payments from her Revolut account to various retailers. She was told transactions were being made on lost bank cards and instructed to repeat transactions to confirm account safety. Revolut provided fraud warnings, including a blocked £929 transaction with specific questions about whether Ms R was being pressured or scammed, but Ms R gave inaccurate answers following the scammer's advice. The ombudsman found that Ms R authorised the payments herself, the payment values were not unusually excessive, and Revolut's warnings were appropriate and proportionate. The complaint was not upheld as Revolut had no further obligation to intervene or recover the payments.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

Ms R authorised the payments herself, albeit under the direction of the scammer, so she is presumed liable in the first instance under the Payment Services Regulations 2017. While Revolut has obligations to monitor for fraud and provide warnings, the payments were not of unusually excessive value to suggest heightened fraud risk. Revolut provided appropriate and proportionate warnings, including specific questions about whether Ms R was being pressured or scammed. Ms R gave inaccurate information following the scammer's advice, which should have put her on notice. The warnings were relevant to her circumstances. A balance must be struck between identifying fraudulent payments and minimising disruption to legitimate payments. Chargeback would not have been successful as payments were made to legitimate merchants who provided services as intended.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website