Not upheld: Fraud reimbursement (APP scams) complaint against THE ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND PUBLIC LIMITED COMPANY

Decision detail

Summary

Mrs S complained that RBS failed to protect her from a cryptocurrency investment scam and lent to her irresponsibly. She had applied for a £25,000 loan stating it was for home improvements, then made £87,100 in faster payments to an account in her own name with Bank R, which were converted to cryptocurrency and lost to scammers. RBS refused to refund the money or cancel the loan. The ombudsman found that RBS's affordability assessment was proportionate and reasonable, the loan repayments were affordable, and the payments to the scam were not sufficiently suspicious to require intervention since they were made to an account in Mrs S's own name that she had previously used. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that RBS conducted proportionate affordability checks appropriate to the loan size and term, and that the calculated disposable income of £1,579 per month made the £428.32 monthly repayments affordable. Although Mrs S authorized the payments to the scam, they were made to an account in her own name that she had previously used, and the ombudsman was not persuaded RBS ought to have found them suspicious enough to intervene. Even if RBS had intervened, Mrs S's dishonest responses to Bank R's questions would have prevented detection of the scam. The ombudsman concluded RBS was not responsible for the scam and held Mrs S liable for the loan as she had applied for it herself.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website