Not upheld: scam / fraud protection and refund complaint against Revolut Ltd

Decision detail

Summary

Ms J complained that Revolut failed to protect her from a scam involving multiple payments totalling thousands of pounds sent to a fraudulent remote job opportunity. She claimed Revolut should have done more to prevent the transfers and should refund her losses. Revolut provided written warnings for new beneficiaries, automated scam-detection questions, and a mandatory three-hour delay with educational materials on the final £3,636 payment. Ms J provided inaccurate answers (claiming the payment was for investing) and proceeded despite the warnings. The ombudsman found that Revolut took reasonable and proportionate steps to protect Ms J from fraud, and that her failure to provide accurate answers or heed the warnings meant further intervention would not have made a difference. The complaint was not upheld and no refund was ordered.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that Revolut provided proportionate and tailored warnings at each stage of the payment journey. Payments 1-4 were not significantly high in value to trigger fraud detection. For the final £3,636 payment, Revolut's systems flagged it as a potential scam and provided comprehensive tailored warnings about investment scams, including specific red flags. Ms J was asked to confirm she understood these warnings and was not being pressured. She provided inaccurate answers (claiming the payment was for investing when it was not) and proceeded despite the three-hour mandatory delay and educational materials. The ombudsman concluded that Revolut took reasonable steps proportionate to the risk level, and that Ms J's failure to provide accurate answers or heed warnings meant further intervention would not have made a difference. No vulnerability indicators were apparent from Ms J's interactions with Revolut.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website