Not upheld: fraud marker registration and account closure complaint against Monzo Bank Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Mr S complained that Monzo unfairly registered his details with Cifas after his account received three fraudulent payments in April 2024. Mr S provided inconsistent explanations for the payments, initially telling Monzo they were 'money owed' but later claiming they were proceeds from selling car parts on social media. He could provide no evidence to support his claims, had deleted all relevant messages and advertising records, and initially mentioned involvement of 'acquaintances' before claiming this was poor wording. The ombudsman found Monzo had acted fairly in registering the marker, as Mr S's inconsistencies and lack of evidence suggested awareness of the fraudulent nature of the payments, and therefore did not uphold the complaint.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that Monzo had reasonable grounds to believe fraud or financial crime had occurred. The ombudsman identified multiple inconsistencies in Mr S's account: he initially described the payments as 'money owed' rather than sales proceeds, mentioned 'acquaintances' involvement then claimed poor wording, and could provide no evidence to substantiate his claims despite the payments occurring only days before Monzo's inquiry. The immediate deletion of all supporting evidence and the implausibility of his explanations for the inconsistencies suggested Mr S was aware the payments were or might be fraudulent. Therefore, Monzo met the requirements to register the Cifas marker fairly.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website