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

Decision detail

Summary

Mrs N complained that Revolut Ltd refused to refund £68,000 she lost to an alleged investment scam between 2021 and 2022. Revolut declined to investigate without sufficient evidence that the funds were lost to a scam. The ombudsman found that Mrs N had not provided adequate evidence to establish a scam had occurred, including no evidence of contact with the scammer at the time of payment, no evidence of deception, and only corroboration that funds went to legitimate cryptocurrency exchanges. Without evidence demonstrating how the scam unfolded and that Mrs N was tricked into making the payments, the ombudsman did not uphold the complaint and did not require Revolut to refund the payments.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that Mrs N had not provided sufficient evidence to establish that a scam had occurred. Specifically, there was no evidence of contact with the scammer at the time the payments were made, no evidence of instructions or deception, no identifiable recipient wallet addresses linked to a scam, and the withdrawals to the other bank account did not match the total loss claimed. Without evidence showing how the scam unfolded and what instructions were given, the ombudsman could only corroborate that money was sent to legitimate crypto exchanges, which is insufficient to conclude Mrs N was tricked into making payments as part of a scam.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website