Not upheld: scam / fraud - refusal to refund losses from authorised payments made to scammer complaint against Revolut Ltd

Decision detail

Summary

Mr K lost £258.44 through a betting scam after making four push-to-card payments on 30 November 2025 to a scammer he found on the dark web. He claimed Revolut should refund his losses, citing his vulnerability as a young student and arguing the payments were not made with full informed consent. Revolut refused, stating the payments fell under unlawful activity. The ombudsman found the payments were authorised by Mr K, not covered by the Faster Payments Scheme Reimbursement Rules (being push-to-card payments to an international payee for illegal purposes), and that Revolut's fraud detection intervention was proportionate. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that Mr K personally authorised all payments by completing the required authentication steps, making them authorised payments under PSR 2017. The payments were not covered by the Faster Payments Scheme Reimbursement Rules because they were push-to-card payments to an international payee and were made for illegal purposes (betting on fixed matches). Even if the reimbursement rules applied, Mr K would not have received a refund due to the illegal nature of the payments. Revolut's fraud detection intervention was proportionate given the small individual amounts and their consistency with Mr K's previous genuine activity. Mr K's claimed vulnerability as a young student did not create an obligation for Revolut to refund, as Revolut was not made aware of any vulnerabilities before the payments. Recovery of funds was unlikely given the international beneficiary and the typical speed at which scammers move funds.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website