Not upheld: authorised push payment (APP) scam refund claim complaint against Revolut Ltd

Decision detail

Summary

Mr D purchased a phone from a seller contacted via social media, making seven payments totalling £825.00 to three different payees between November and December 2025. After the final payment, the seller ceased communication and Mr D never received the phone. Revolut refunded only four of the seven payments (£125.00 after deducting a £100 excess) under the Faster Payments Scheme and CHAPS Reimbursement Rules. Mr D complained that Revolut should refund all losses, claiming he was victim of an APP scam. The ombudsman rejected the complaint, finding that Mr D's limited evidence (screenshots and a picture of phone boxes) did not sufficiently demonstrate either a binding agreement to purchase a phone or that the seller acted with fraudulent intent to deceive him, as required by the Reimbursement Rules definition of an APP scam.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that while Mr D was in contact with an individual who sent pictures of mobile phones, the available evidence did not sufficiently demonstrate that there was a binding agreement to purchase a phone. The messages from the seller regarding staged payments and different payees were equally consistent with other explanations. Critically, Mr D failed to provide sufficiently persuasive evidence that he fell victim to an APP scam as defined by the Reimbursement Rules, which requires proof that the seller used fraudulent or dishonest conduct to manipulate or deceive him into transferring funds for a purpose other than intended. The burden of proof rested with Mr D to demonstrate this, and the limited evidence available did not meet this threshold.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website