Not upheld: scam / fraud - failure to prevent payments complaint against Revolut Ltd

Decision detail

Summary

Mr F fell victim to an investment scam where fraudsters claimed to recover his lost cryptocurrency funds but repeatedly demanded additional payments. He made approximately £234,645 in payments to a cryptocurrency exchange on the scammer's instructions between October and November 2025. Revolut provided automated scam warnings and conducted a phone call intervention, during which Mr F falsely claimed the funds were for personal cryptocurrency trading. The ombudsman found that while Revolut should have intervened on higher-value payments, Mr F's demonstrated willingness to provide dishonest information to financial institutions and ignore explicit warnings meant that further intervention would not have prevented the scam. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

While Revolut should have intervened on the higher-value payments, the ombudsman found that intervention would not have prevented the scam because Mr F demonstrated a clear pattern of providing dishonest information to financial institutions and ignoring explicit warnings about scam risks. Mr F had already circumvented fraud controls at another bank and continued with payments despite multiple warnings from Revolut itself. The ombudsman concluded that Mr F was heavily influenced by the scammer and would likely have found ways to proceed regardless of further intervention.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website