Not upheld: Fraud reimbursement (APP scams) complaint against Wise Payments Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Mr P lost approximately £15,000 to an authorised push payment scam involving a fake remote job opportunity. He was coached by the scammer to mislead banks about the purpose of his payments and to follow specific guidance when questioned. Although another bank intervened and warned him about investment scams, this did not dissuade him because he was falling victim to a different scam and was under the scammer's influence. The ombudsman found that while Wise should have intervened, such interventions would not have stopped Mr P from proceeding given his susceptibility to the scammer's influence and his demonstrated willingness to deliberately mislead financial institutions. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

While the ombudsman agreed that Wise should have intervened as Mr P's payments continued, the key issue was whether such interventions would have prevented the scam. The ombudsman found that Mr P was under significant influence from the scammer and had demonstrated a willingness to deliberately mislead banks when questioned (as evidenced by his responses to another bank's intervention). The scammer had coached Mr P on how to respond to bank inquiries and what to say. Given this pattern of behaviour and Mr P's high level of belief in and trust of the scammer, the ombudsman concluded that additional interventions from Wise would not have stopped Mr P from proceeding. The ombudsman also noted that while Mr P may have had vulnerabilities, there was no clear pattern that would have highlighted these to Wise or indicated they were impairing his decision-making.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website