Not upheld: scam / fraud - refusal to refund complaint against Revolut Ltd

Decision detail

Summary

Mrs M fell victim to a job review scam and lost money through multiple payments made via her Revolut account between September and October 2023. She complained that Revolut should refund her losses, but Revolut refused. The ombudsman found that while Revolut intervened appropriately with warnings, Mrs M deliberately provided false information to bypass security procedures on the scammer's advice. Additionally, Revolut had no reasonable recovery options available due to missed chargeback deadlines and depleted payee accounts. The complaint was not upheld as the ombudsman concluded that even with further intervention, Mrs M would likely have found alternative payment methods.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

While Mrs M authorised the payments and Revolut had limited recovery options due to missed chargeback deadlines and depleted payee accounts, the key issue was whether Revolut should have prevented the scam. Revolut did intervene appropriately on multiple occasions and provided targeted warnings based on the information Mrs M provided. However, Mrs M deliberately provided false information to Revolut on the scammer's advice to bypass security procedures. This made it very difficult for Revolut to uncover the scam. Even if Revolut had intervened further or restricted the account, Mrs M would likely have found alternative methods to make the payments given her willingness to deceive the firm.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website