Not upheld: Authorised Push Payment (APP) Scam - Reimbursement Claim complaint against HSBC UK Bank Plc

Decision detail

Summary

Mr C lost £6,100 to a visa application scam between May and June 2024, making four payments from his HSBC account to fraudsters posing as a legitimate visa services company. He reported the scam to HSBC in October 2025 and requested reimbursement, which HSBC declined. The ombudsman found that Mr C did not have a reasonable basis for believing Company B was legitimate because the quoted price (£18,000) far exceeded the actual cost (£7,040), he lacked the required employment offer to apply for the visa, and payments went to multiple personal accounts. Although HSBC's warnings were not fully effective under CRM Code standards, the ombudsman found HSBC was not required to provide effective warnings for most payments and that Mr C would likely not have heeded them regardless. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman applied the CRM Code framework, which provides protection from APP scams but includes exceptions. The key finding was that Mr C did not have a reasonable basis for believing Company B was genuine because: (1) the quoted price of £18,000 was significantly higher than the publicly available maximum cost of £7,040; (2) he lacked the required employment offer to apply for the visa; (3) payments went to multiple personal accounts rather than a business account; (4) he was instructed to mislead HSBC about the purpose; and (5) a payment was already declined by HSBC for fraud concerns. The ombudsman found that even if HSBC had provided more effective warnings, Mr C would likely not have heeded them given his apparent lack of due diligence and the pressure he felt from his visa expiration. The delay in reporting (over a year) meant funds were almost certainly already withdrawn.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website