Not upheld: fraud marker loading / complicity in receiving fraudulent funds complaint against Nationwide Building Society

Decision detail

Summary

Mr T complained that Nationwide Building Society unfairly loaded a negative fraud marker against him after he received £8,000 into his account, which he claimed was payment for selling a car to person A. When Nationwide questioned the transaction, Mr T provided evidence he later admitted creating after the fact, at A's suggestion. The ombudsman found that chat messages showed A instructing Mr T on what to tell the bank, Mr T warning A not to proceed with the transaction (suggesting awareness of fraud), and the complete absence of genuine evidence of a car sale. The ombudsman concluded Mr T was complicit in receiving fraudulent funds and upheld Nationwide's decision to load the fraud marker.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found clear evidence of complicity based on: (1) Mr T creating false evidence at A's instruction, which would be unlikely if the sale were genuine; (2) chat messages showing A instructing Mr T on what to tell the bank, indicating A's involvement in fraud; (3) Mr T's warning to A not to carry out the transaction after Nationwide contacted him, suggesting awareness of fraudulent activity; (4) the unusual circumstances of receiving payments from a third party company into multiple accounts; and (5) the lack of any genuine evidence of a car sale despite having had time to produce it.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website