Not upheld: Cifas marker registration for fraudulent claims and misuse of facility complaint against Barclays Bank UK

Decision detail

Summary

Mr M complained against Barclays regarding a Cifas marker registered in June 2025 for 'Fraudulent Claim – Chargeback' (initially filed as 'Falsely reporting loss'). The ombudsman found that Barclays had strong evidence that Mr M created multiple profiles with misleading personal details to submit multiple disputed transaction claims, subsequently withdrew some claims, and transferred temporary refunds out of his account before they could be re-debited. The ombudsman concluded that this conduct demonstrated dishonesty and met the Cifas criteria for registering a marker for misuse of facility. The complaint was not upheld, and no remedy was ordered.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that Barclays met the Cifas criteria for filing a marker by demonstrating reasonable grounds to believe that financial crime had been committed, with clear, relevant and rigorous evidence. The evidence showed Mr M acted dishonestly by creating multiple profiles with misleading details to submit fraudulent claims and transferring refunds before re-debit. Even if Mr M had been given an opportunity to respond, the compelling nature of the conduct would have justified the marker registration.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website