Not upheld: scam / fraud claim - refund request complaint against Revolut Ltd

Decision detail

Summary

Mr F complained that Revolut refused to refund money he claimed he lost to a scam involving cryptocurrency investments. Mr F alleged he sent multiple payments to what he believed was a legitimate investment opportunity. Revolut and the FOS investigator did not uphold the complaint. The ombudsman found that Mr F had only provided evidence of legitimate cryptocurrency purchases in his own name, with no documentation of contact with a scammer, payment requests, or actual loss. The ombudsman also noted Mr F had admitted to circumventing Revolut's checking processes and had received scam warnings but proceeded anyway. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman applied the balance of probabilities test and found that Mr F had not provided sufficient evidence to demonstrate he was a victim of a scam. While Mr F clearly made cryptocurrency purchases, there was no evidence showing contact with a scammer, requests to transfer money, or that the ultimate beneficiary was a scammer. Additionally, even if a scam had occurred, Mr F failed to establish the actual loss suffered, as there was no evidence he did not benefit from some transactions. The ombudsman noted that Mr F's own actions—reducing payment sizes to circumvent checks and threatening to use another bank—undermined his credibility and suggested he was not being transparent with Revolut.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website