Not upheld: scam reimbursement / fraud prevention and intervention complaint against Revolut Ltd

Decision detail

Summary

Mr W lost £245,750 to a multi-stage investment scam between October 2023 and April 2024, making payments to cryptocurrency providers and bank accounts after being contacted by a fraudulent investment company. He complained to Revolut for reimbursement, arguing the firm's fraud prevention interventions were inadequate and should have detected the implausibility of his stated reasons for payments. Revolut provided multiple warnings and asked probing questions, but Mr W consistently misled the firm in his responses. The ombudsman found that while Revolut should have provided more tailored cryptocurrency scam warnings and made additional checks on the largest payment, the complaint cannot be upheld because evidence showed Mr W was coached by the scammer on how to answer Revolut's questions and shared screenshots of warnings with the fraudster, meaning enhanced intervention would not have prevented his loss.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that while Revolut should have provided more tailored warnings about cryptocurrency investment scams (particularly from October 2023 onwards) and should have spoken to Mr W about the £80,000 payment in April 2024, the complaint cannot be upheld because Mr W consistently and deliberately misled Revolut in response to fraud prevention questions. Evidence showed the scammer coached Mr W on how to answer Revolut's questions and Mr W shared screenshots of warnings with the scammer. Given this sustained deception and heavy coaching, even more proactive intervention would not have prevented the loss, as Mr W would not have disclosed the true nature of the transactions.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website