Not upheld: fraud marker recording and debt liability complaint against Santander UK Plc

Decision detail

Summary

Mr S complained that Santander unfairly recorded a fraud marker against him on the Cifas database and pursued him for repayment of an outstanding balance of over £2,000 following fraudulent payments received into his account in July 2025. Mr S denied any involvement in the transactions or knowledge of the activity. Santander maintained it had sufficient evidence of Mr S's involvement, including calls where he requested increased withdrawal limits and allegedly confirmed making cash machine withdrawals. The ombudsman found the bank's evidence persuasive and concluded Mr S's testimony was insufficient to refute the fraud allegation, upholding Santander's decision to maintain the marker and pursue the debt.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found it implausible that Mr S would not have known about the account activity at the precise moment there was an issue, particularly given the call where he requested an increased daily withdrawal limit prior to the withdrawals. The bank had undertaken security checks during calls, making it unclear how an unknown third party could have obtained his details and withdrawn funds without his participation. The ombudsman concluded Mr S's testimony was insufficient to refute the fraud allegation and that the account terms made him responsible for the debt where payments were authorised by the customer.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website