Not upheld: scam - failure to intervene and prevent fraud complaint against Barclays Bank Plc

Decision detail

Summary

Ms W fell victim to a job scam in March 2025 where she made three payments totalling £5,750 from her Barclays account to an Electronic Money Institute, believing she was funding a legitimate remote job opportunity. She was instructed to set up additional accounts and send funds to individuals, with promises of earnings she could eventually withdraw. After realising the scam, Ms W complained to Barclays seeking a refund. The ombudsman found that while Barclays ought to have carried out automated questioning on the third payment due to its elevated risk profile, such intervention would not have prevented Ms W from proceeding, as she would have truthfully answered that she was sending funds to her own account, and the resulting warnings would not have resonated with her regarding the job scam. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

While Barclays ought to have carried out automated questioning on the third payment due to its elevated risk profile, such intervention would not have prevented Ms W from proceeding. Ms W would have truthfully answered that she was sending funds to her own account with R, which was the immediate purpose of the Barclays payment. The warnings that would have resulted (regarding safe account or impersonation scams) would not have resonated with her or impacted her decision, as they would not have paralleled the job scam she was actually falling victim to. Additionally, no chargeback recovery would have been possible as the merchant (R) did provide the requested service by making funds available in Ms W's account.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website