Not upheld: scam reimbursement and fraud prevention complaint against HSBC UK Bank Plc

Decision detail

Summary

Miss K complained that HSBC refused to reimburse her £1,998 after she fell victim to a scam where someone impersonating HMRC told her to make a payment to avoid court proceedings. HSBC argued that Miss K had authorised the payment and refused reimbursement. The ombudsman found that while Miss K was genuinely scammed, the transaction was not unusual enough compared to her previous account activity to require HSBC to intervene, and a chargeback would likely have been unsuccessful. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

While Miss K was a victim of a scam, HSBC was not obliged to prevent the payment because the transaction value was relatively low and broadly in line with her previous account activity. The ombudsman balanced the need to identify potentially fraudulent payments against minimising disruption to legitimate transactions. The Contingent Reimbursement Model Code and subsequent reimbursement rules do not apply to card payments. A chargeback would likely have been defended as a service could have been provided to a third party or fake documents could have been provided.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website