Not upheld: Account closure without notice complaint against HSBC UK Bank plc

Decision detail

Summary

Mr A complained that HSBC improperly lodged a fraud-related marker on CIFAS after his account received £8,928 in fraudulent funds from four account takeover victims, which were then spent using his debit card and app. Mr A claimed he was a victim of account takeover and did not hold the three devices linked to his account. The ombudsman found HSBC had sufficient evidence that Mr A knowingly received and spent the fraudulent funds, including his debit card being used for transactions, his telephone security number being used for verification, and the app being set up on multiple devices via one-time passcodes sent to his original device. The ombudsman rejected Mr A's testimony as unconvincing and upheld HSBC's decision to lodge the marker.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman applied the CIFAS marker requirements: reasonable grounds to believe fraud was committed and clear, relevant, rigorous evidence. The ombudsman found HSBC's evidence compelling: the debit card sent to Mr A's address was used for transactions; Mr A's telephone security number was used for verification despite his denial; the app setup on multiple devices required one-time passcodes sent to the original device, making third-party access implausible; the devices were linked to other fraud cases; and Mr A provided no credible explanation for how account takeover could have occurred. The ombudsman rejected Mr A's misreading of his data subject access request and found his testimony unconvincing against the objective evidence.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website