Not upheld: scam protection and fraud prevention complaint against Revolut Ltd

Decision detail

Summary

Miss L was scammed by someone posing as a recruiter who instructed her to purchase approximately £1,450 in cryptocurrency through her Revolut e-money account and withdraw it to a fraudulent wallet address. Revolut displayed automated fraud questions and investment scam warnings during the withdrawal process but did not prevent the transactions. Miss L complained that Revolut failed to protect her from the scam, arguing the activity was a clear departure from her prior account use and that she was being manipulated in real-time. The ombudsman rejected the complaint, finding that the transactions were not sufficiently suspicious to warrant more involved fraud checks or direct intervention, as Miss L's account history showed frequent currency purchases and payments in the hundreds of pounds, making the disputed transactions not significantly out of character.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman concluded that while Miss L was victim to a sophisticated scam, Revolut was not sufficiently on notice that fraud was occurring. The transactions were not significantly out of character given Miss L's prior account usage, which included frequent currency purchases and payments in the hundreds of pounds. The first three exchanges were relatively low in value and not made in quick succession, and even the final transaction of £1,013, while the highest in a while, was not concerningly large in context. The ombudsman found that Revolut was not required to conduct more involved fraud checks or speak with Miss L before processing the transactions. Additionally, even if Revolut had shown fraud warnings prior to purchase, Miss L would likely have been manipulated by the scammer to select answers that would not trigger a relevant job scam warning.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website