Not upheld: scam and fraud - failure to prevent payment to cryptocurrency scam complaint against HSBC UK Bank Plc

Decision detail

Summary

Mr B lost £2,500 to a cryptocurrency scam after making a payment from his HSBC account in December 2025. He also made related payments from another bank (R) and was following scammer instructions while deliberately providing false information to other firms. HSBC investigated but did not uphold his complaint, and the FOS upheld HSBC's decision. The ombudsman found the payment was not unusual for a newly opened account, the value was not concerning, and a single payment to a legitimate cryptocurrency provider did not warrant intervention. Even if HSBC had intervened, Mr B was unlikely to have responded differently given he was under the scammer's control. No remedy was ordered.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that the £2,500 payment was not unusual or out of character given Mr B had recently opened the account. A single payment of this value to a legitimate cryptocurrency provider, while carrying known fraud risks, was not sufficient to trigger intervention. The ombudsman noted that Mr B was under the scammer's control and had deliberately provided false information to other firms, so additional warnings from HSBC would likely not have changed his decision. The ombudsman also considered that HSBC processes high volumes of transactions and must balance fraud prevention with allowing legitimate customer transactions.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website