Not upheld: Fraud reimbursement (APP scams) complaint against Bank of Scotland plc trading as Halifax

Decision detail

Summary

Mr E fell victim to a cryptocurrency investment scam after seeing a social media advertisement featuring a celebrity endorsement. He made multiple large transfers from his Halifax account to cryptocurrency exchanges and accounts in his own name, having been instructed by the scammers and provided with a script to deceive the bank. Halifax intervened on multiple occasions and provided specific warnings about cryptocurrency scams and the misused celebrity, but Mr E continued making payments by providing false information. The ombudsman found Halifax not responsible for the losses because Mr E deliberately deceived the bank following the scammers' script, making it impossible for Halifax to uncover the fraud even with further intervention.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

While Halifax had a duty to protect against fraud and should have been concerned about large payments to cryptocurrency exchanges, the ombudsman found that Halifax did intervene appropriately on multiple occasions and provided specific warnings. The critical factor was that Mr E deliberately provided false information to Halifax following a script provided by the scammers, making it very difficult for Halifax to uncover the scam. The ombudsman concluded that even with further intervention, Mr E would likely have continued providing dishonest information, so Halifax did not miss an opportunity to prevent the scam.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website