Not upheld: scam reimbursement / fraud protection complaint against Wise Payments Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Ms S fell victim to a job scam in January 2024, transferring under £5,000 through her Wise account to a scammer posing as an employer. She complained that Wise should refund her losses. Wise flagged some payments and asked Ms S to confirm their purpose via a drop-down menu; Ms S selected 'sending money to friends and family' rather than the available option 'paying to earn money by working online'. The ombudsman found Wise's questions were clear and proportionate, and that it was unreasonable to hold Wise responsible for Ms S's inaccurate responses, which she had been coached to provide by the scammer. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that the payments were low value and went to individuals, which would not indicate a job scam on their face. Wise asked clear questions about payment purpose and provided warnings proportionate to the identifiable risk. Although Ms S selected an incorrect reason for the transfers (friends and family rather than earning money online), the ombudsman found it unreasonable to hold Wise responsible for this, as Ms S had been convinced by the scammer she was engaging in a genuine transaction and should have answered truthfully. The ombudsman did not think Wise had sufficient reason to suspect Ms S was being coached to mislead them. Wise took reasonable steps and could not have prevented the loss.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website