Not upheld: unauthorised transactions / disputed payments complaint against Modulr FS Limited (trading as Pockit)

Decision detail

Summary

Miss H complained that Modulr FS Limited (Pockit) failed to reimburse two unauthorised payments of £520 and £480 made from her newly opened electronic money account on 2 May 2025. Miss H claimed her account was hacked and offered various explanations for how a fraudster could have obtained her security credentials, including losing her phone, wallet and passport, and a previous iCloud hack. The ombudsman found that while technical evidence confirmed the payments were made from a different device, Miss H's overall explanation lacked plausibility. Key credibility issues included timing inconsistencies (OTP sent at 1:30 am before she claimed to lose her phone), her own account logins between the disputed payments, delayed reporting to Pockit, and her initial statement to Pockit that she made the payments for work-from-home equipment which she later retracted. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

While the ombudsman accepted that payments were made from a different device, this alone is not conclusive evidence of unauthorised access. The ombudsman found Miss H's explanation for how a third party could have obtained all necessary security information implausible when considered as a whole. Key factors undermining credibility included: the timing of the OTP (sent at 1:30 am before Miss H claims she lost her phone), the implausibility of the same fraudster who hacked her iCloud months earlier also obtaining her phone and email access, account activity showing Miss H's own logins between the disputed payments, the delay in reporting to Pockit, and Miss H's initial claim that she made the payments for a work-from-home job opportunity which she later retracted.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website