Not upheld: scam / fraud - refund request for unauthorised loss complaint against Wise Payments Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Miss C complained that Wise Payments Limited should refund approximately £1,100 she lost after falling victim to a scam offering fake remote work. She opened a Wise account and made an international payment to scammers who had convinced her to pay money to earn higher commission. After realising the scam, Miss C reported it to Wise, which attempted but failed to recover the funds. The ombudsman did not uphold the complaint, finding that Miss C authorised the payment and was therefore liable under the Payment Services Regulations, the transaction was not sufficiently suspicious to require Wise to intervene, and recovery was unlikely given the international payment scheme and timing of fund movement by scammers.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman applied the Payment Services Regulations framework, noting that Miss C authorised the payment and is therefore liable for it in the first instance, even though she did not intend the money to reach scammers. While Wise had responsibilities to monitor for potentially fraudulent payments, a balance must be struck between fraud prevention and minimal disruption to legitimate transactions. The single payment was not sufficiently unusual or concerning given the newly-opened account status, lack of historic usage patterns, consistency with the account's purpose, and Miss C's explanation to Wise. Regarding recovery, the international nature of the payment meant it fell outside UK protection schemes, and by the time Miss C reported the scam, scammers had likely already moved the funds, making recovery unlikely even if Wise had acted faster.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website