Not upheld: scam - failure to prevent or recover fraudulent payment complaint against HSBC UK Bank Plc trading as first direct

Decision detail

Summary

Ms H was scammed by someone impersonating her uncle and made a £250 debit card payment for a gift card to a legitimate online merchant. She discovered the fraud minutes later and immediately contacted first direct, requesting a refund. First direct declined and Ms H complained to the FOS. The ombudsman found the complaint not upheld because the payment was not unusual or suspicious enough to require first direct to intervene, the payment could not be stopped once authorised, and a chargeback would have been unsuccessful. The ombudsman concluded first direct acted fairly and was not responsible for the loss.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

While first direct should monitor accounts for fraud risks and maintain systems to detect scams, the payment in question was not unusual or suspicious enough to warrant intervention. The £250 payment was to a legitimate merchant Ms H had previously used, represented a single transaction rather than multiple large payments, and was not of a value that would typically indicate heightened financial harm risk. The payment could not have been stopped once authorised, and a chargeback would have been unsuccessful as the merchant provided the intended services. Therefore, first direct acted fairly in processing the payment.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website