Not upheld: Fraud reimbursement (APP scams) complaint against Barclays Bank UK PLC

Decision detail

Summary

Mr M lost over £16,000 to an investment scam operated by company T, sending payments via a crypto exchange provider between July and September 2024. He had conducted due diligence on T, received positive returns, and was convinced of its legitimacy despite warnings from other investors. While the ombudsman agreed Barclays should have issued a crypto investment scam warning given the high-value payments and known crypto fraud risks, it found such a warning would not have prevented Mr M from making the payments given his strong conviction in the investment. The complaint was not upheld as causation could not be established between any bank intervention and prevention of the loss.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

While Barclays should have issued a specific crypto investment scam warning based on the high-value payments and known crypto fraud risks, the ombudsman found this intervention would not have prevented the payments. Mr M had conducted substantial due diligence, received positive returns early on, ignored earlier warnings from other investors, and was heavily convinced of the investment's legitimacy. The causation element was not satisfied - a proportionate intervention would not have revealed the fraud given Mr M's level of conviction and trust in the scammers.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website