Not upheld: scam reimbursement / Authorised Push Payment (APP) fraud claim complaint against Barclays Bank UK PLC

Decision detail

Summary

Miss M complained that Barclays refused to reimburse her after she reported disputed transactions, claiming she was a victim of a job task scam. She initially stated she was introduced to the opportunity by a work friend but later clarified she had been contacted by text message. Barclays declined reimbursement, treating it as a private civil dispute rather than a scam. The ombudsman found the evidence insufficient to prove fraud occurred, noting Miss M's inconsistent accounts, incomplete screenshots lacking context about deception, and missing original communications. The complaint was not upheld, and Barclays' decision to decline reimbursement was deemed reasonable.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman applied the high threshold for establishing fraud (more likely than not) under the Reimbursement Rules. The evidence was insufficient because: (1) screenshots did not show the complete conversation or explain why payments were made or what deception was used; (2) Miss M's testimony lacked consistency, having given significantly different accounts previously, undermining credibility; (3) whilst one screenshot referenced 'tasks', this alone was insufficient when balanced against the other evidentiary gaps. Therefore, it was reasonable for Barclays to treat this as a private civil dispute rather than an APP scam.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website