Partially upheld: scam refund liability - romance fraud complaint against Revolut Ltd

Decision detail

Summary

Mr S lost approximately £8,000 to a romance scam through nearly 60 transactions made to his Revolut account between December 2023 and March 2024. He notified Revolut in early 2025 and complained that the firm should refund his losses. The ombudsman found that while the transactions involved frequent smaller payments to a newly created payee over an extended period—a pattern associated with romance scams—the individual transaction values were not unusual, the payee became established after 25 previous payments, and the activity was not inconsistent with legitimate account usage. Consequently, Revolut was not obligated to intervene and was not held responsible for the losses. However, the ombudsman found Revolut's handling of Mr S's scam claim was poor, lacking urgency, communication, and support, and directed Revolut to pay £300 compensation for this service failure.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that while Revolut has obligations to protect consumers from fraud in certain circumstances, these are not absolute. The individual transactions were not unusual in value, the payee became established after 25 previous payments, payments were spread over four months without rapid succession or incremental increases, and the activity was not inconsistent with legitimate account usage. Although romance scams often involve frequent smaller transactions to newly created payees, there must be a balance between questioning transactions and allowing customers to use their accounts without unreasonable friction. The ombudsman was not persuaded the payments indicated a pattern of fraud that Revolut ought reasonably to have identified. However, Revolut's handling of Mr S's scam claim was poor, lacking progression, communication, and support during a distressing time, warranting £300 compensation.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website