Not upheld: scam and fraud - refund of unauthorised payments complaint against Barclays Bank UK PLC

Decision detail

Summary

Mr K complained that Barclays Bank UK PLC should refund money he lost to a scam involving cryptocurrency investments. Between August 2023 and April 2024, Mr K made payments totalling approximately £14,462 to cryptocurrency platforms and his own account under the direction of a scammer. Mr K reported the scam to Barclays on 6 September 2023 but continued making payments to a different cryptocurrency provider despite this report. The ombudsman found that while Barclays could have taken additional protective steps, particularly after the scam report, intervention would not have prevented the losses because Mr K had complete trust in the scammer and would have been more persuaded by the scammer's guidance than Barclays' intervention. The complaint was not upheld and no refund was ordered.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman applied the principle that banks must process authorised payments but may take additional protective steps proportionate to identifiable risk. While Barclays could have intervened regarding the payments to B (given prior scam report), the ombudsman found intervention would not have prevented losses because: (1) Mr K had complete trust in the scammer and continued 'investing' despite reporting the scam to Barclays; (2) Mr K would likely have sought the scammer's guidance before engaging with Barclays and would have been more persuaded by the scammer; (3) Mr K was making payments from other accounts with third parties, showing any intervention by Barclays would not have stopped the scam; and (4) the payments themselves were not individually or collectively high in value, not in quick succession, and cryptocurrency payments alone do not automatically trigger fraud detection. Regarding recovery, Barclays acted promptly on the L payments but could not recover funds; the later payments to B and R were not reported until May 2025 and were transferred through Mr K's own account, making recovery impossible.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website