Not upheld: alleged scam and fraud; chargeback handling; overdraft management complaint against Bank of Scotland plc (Halifax)

Decision detail

Summary

Miss G complained that Halifax failed to protect her from losing £5,500 to an alleged scam involving a property training course. Although Halifax initially blocked a bank transfer attempt, Miss G subsequently made a debit card payment the same day. After reporting the payment as a scam, Halifax raised a chargeback claim and provided a temporary refund. The merchant successfully defended the chargeback with evidence of provided services, leading to the refund reversal. This created an unauthorised overdraft when Miss G had already transferred the temporary refund out of her account. The ombudsman found no scam had occurred, as the business was legitimate and had provided the promised services, albeit not meeting Miss G's expectations. Halifax was found to have acted reasonably throughout and required to do nothing further beyond the £65 already paid for distress and inconvenience.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman concluded that while Miss G was unhappy with the service quality, the evidence showed she paid a legitimate registered business that provided course materials, one-to-one support, and event attendance. The payment did not meet the definition of a scam but rather represented a dispute about service quality. Halifax properly followed chargeback scheme procedures and was not obligated to intervene in the debit card payment. The overdraft resulted from Miss G's decision to transfer out the temporary refund before the chargeback outcome was determined, not from any Halifax error.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website