Not upheld: unauthorised payment / fraud claim complaint against Bank of Scotland plc (trading as Halifax)

Decision detail

Summary

Mr H complained that Halifax should refund £678.32 he claimed he did not authorise, which was transferred to a cryptocurrency exchange as part of a job scam. Halifax initially refunded the payment temporarily but then reversed it, putting Mr H into overdraft. The ombudsman found that evidence showed the payment was authorised using biometrics on Mr H's device in the same manner as other scam-related payments he did not dispute. Although Mr H was a scam victim, the payment was not sufficiently unusual to warrant bank intervention, and a chargeback would have failed. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

Although Mr H claims he did not authorise the payment, the evidence demonstrates it was authorised using biometrics on his device in the same manner as other payments he did not dispute. While banks should intervene in suspicious transactions, the payment was not sufficiently unusual or suspicious to warrant additional checks given the account activity pattern. A chargeback would have been unsuccessful as the payment went to Mr H's own cryptocurrency account. Therefore, Halifax was not liable for the payment and correctly reversed the temporary refund.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website