Not upheld: scam protection and fraud recovery; APP scam reimbursement complaint against Barclays Bank UK PLC trading as Barclaycard

Decision detail

Summary

Mrs D fell victim to an employment scam in September 2024 that induced her to make a cryptocurrency payment of £1,441.86 on 23 October 2024. She complained to Barclaycard arguing it should have intervened before processing the transaction and should reimburse her under the CRM Code. Barclaycard initially refused but offered a 50% refund plus fees. The ombudsman did not uphold the complaint, finding that Mrs D authorised the payment, the CRM Code did not apply to payments to accounts in the consumer's own name, the transaction was not suspicious enough to warrant intervention, and recovery prospects were limited as the funds were moved onwards from an account in Mrs D's name.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman applied the Payment Services Regulations 2017 and found that Mrs D authorised the payment, making her presumed liable in the first instance. The CRM Code did not apply because the payment was to an account in the consumer's own name. The ombudsman was not persuaded that Barclaycard should have found the transaction suspicious given its low value and lack of other concerning factors. Recovery was unlikely because the funds were paid to an account in Mrs D's name and moved onwards, meaning any chargeback against the cryptocurrency exchange would likely fail as they had fulfilled their obligation to convert and send cryptocurrency.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website