Not upheld: scam and fraud - investment scam, failure to prevent payments complaint against Revolut Ltd

Decision detail

Summary

Miss J fell victim to an investment scam orchestrated by company X, losing £58,079.22 through 21 payments made to cryptocurrency exchanges and other accounts between July and August 2025. She complained that Revolut should have prevented the payments and refunded her losses. Revolut did intervene on multiple occasions with warnings about remote access and scams, but Miss J deliberately provided false information about payment purposes to circumvent controls. When another bank provider warned her the payments were likely a scam, Miss J transferred funds through her Revolut account to continue funding the scam. The ombudsman found that while Revolut could have intervened further, Miss J's deliberate deception made it impossible for Revolut to uncover the scam, and therefore Revolut was not responsible for her loss.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

While Revolut could have intervened further when payment 8 was made, the ombudsman found that Miss J actively circumvented fraud controls by providing false information to multiple account providers. Miss J deliberately misrepresented the purpose of payments, ignored warnings about remote access and scams, and used alternative accounts when obstacles arose. The ombudsman concluded that even with further intervention from Revolut, Miss J would likely have continued providing false information, making it very difficult for Revolut to uncover the scam. Therefore, Revolut did not miss a genuine opportunity to prevent the scam.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website