Not upheld: scam - failure to prevent fraudulent payment complaint against HSBC UK Bank Plc

Decision detail

Summary

Mr E lost £15,980 to a job task scam after being contacted on social media and instructed to send payments via cryptocurrency. HSBC blocked one payment and warned Mr E on 23 October that he was likely being scammed, but Mr E continued making payments. HSBC refunded £8,880 (50% of first payment plus full refund from 23 October onwards) plus £300 compensation. The ombudsman found HSBC should have intervened more robustly but upheld the refund as fair because Mr E bore equal responsibility: he ignored red flags, was dishonest with his bank about payment purposes, and continued sending money after being explicitly warned. The complaint was not upheld as HSBC's refund already exceeded what would be recommended under a 50/50 fault allocation.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

While HSBC should have intervened more robustly on the payments, particularly given the cryptocurrency transfers to an unfamiliar provider and Mr E's lack of history with such transactions, Mr E also bore significant responsibility for his losses. Mr E was contacted by a stranger on an unsuitable platform, received no proper recruitment process, was offered earnings that seemed too good to be true, and failed to conduct independent checks. Critically, Mr E was dishonest with both HSBC and R about the true purpose of payments, and after being warned by HSBC on 23 October that he was likely being scammed, he continued making payments anyway. The ombudsman found a 50/50 fault allocation appropriate, meaning Mr E should bear 50% of losses. Since HSBC's refund of £8,880 already exceeded what would be recommended under this allocation, no further compensation was warranted.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website