Not upheld: scam and unauthorised payments complaint against Bank of Scotland plc trading as Halifax

Decision detail

Summary

Mr O complained that Halifax failed to reimburse him for three credit card payments he claimed were unauthorised, stating he was a victim of a job scam. Halifax declined reimbursement, noting that each payment required an OTP and was made from a familiar IP address. The ombudsman found that Mr O most likely authorised the payments himself despite being manipulated by the scammer, and that Halifax was not required to intervene or recover the funds. The APP scam reimbursement rules do not apply to payments made to accounts in the customer's own control, so Halifax acted fairly in declining reimbursement.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman concluded that Mr O most likely authorised the payments himself, despite being manipulated by a job scam. The use of OTPs and the familiar IP address made it implausible that a third party made the payments without Mr O's involvement. Halifax was not required to intervene on the first payment as it was not unusual in amount or pattern. The APP scam reimbursement rules do not apply to payments made to accounts in the customer's own control.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website