Not upheld: scam refund claim complaint against Barclays Bank UK PLC

Decision detail

Summary

Mr D claimed he was scammed by an individual offering Forex investments with guaranteed 20% monthly returns via a messaging application. He was guided to set up an investment account and made multiple high-value international payments before discovering the account contained no funds. Mr D sought a refund from Barclays, claiming the payments were made as a result of a scam. The ombudsman did not uphold the complaint, finding that Mr D had not provided sufficient evidence to establish that the payments were made to a specific scam or that his loss resulted from that scam, and therefore could not hold Barclays responsible for the loss.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that Mr D had not provided sufficient evidence to establish that the disputed payments were made to a specific scam or that his loss resulted from that scam. While the ombudsman acknowledged Mr D's efforts to provide information and empathised with his situation, the burden of proof lay with Mr D to demonstrate the scam and resulting loss. Without adequate evidence linking the payments to a specific scam, the ombudsman could not hold Barclays responsible for the loss.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website