Not upheld: scam - refund of authorised payment complaint against THE ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND PUBLIC LIMITED COMPANY (RBS)

Decision detail

Summary

Miss J complained that RBS should refund £711 she lost to a task-based job scam after making a debit card payment to her own account with another provider to purchase cryptocurrency. RBS had already refunded £37 of other scam payments under the PSR mandatory reimbursement scheme but refused to refund the debit card payment. The ombudsman found the payment was not covered by the PSR scheme and did not present heightened fraud risk that would have warranted RBS to intervene before processing it, as the amount was consistent with Miss J's prior transaction history and the payment was to her own account with a well-known provider. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The £711 debit card payment was not covered by the PSR's mandatory reimbursement scheme as it was a debit card transaction to an account in the consumer's own name. The payment did not present a heightened fraud risk warranting intervention because: the amount was relatively low compared to Miss J's prior transaction history; the funds were sent to an account in her own name with a well-known provider; it was a single transaction rather than multiple rapid transactions; and the prior scam payments were to different payees suggesting no connection. While RBS has obligations to protect consumers from fraud in certain circumstances, these are not absolute, and the payment appeared legitimate based on the circumstances known to RBS at the time.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website