Not upheld: Alleged Authorised Push Payment (APP) scam - insufficient intervention and fraud prevention complaint against Lloyds Bank PLC

Decision detail

Summary

Mr B complained that Lloyds Bank PLC failed to sufficiently intervene to prevent him losing over £17,000 to an alleged investment scam between March and April 2021. Lloyds offered Mr B £2,922.32 in partial compensation. The ombudsman found insufficient evidence that Mr B was actually scammed, as he could not establish a clear link between cryptocurrency transactions he documented and payments to the alleged fraudster's account. The ombudsman noted that even if a scam were proven, the payments would not have been covered under the Contingent Reimbursement Model Code. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that while Mr B provided cryptocurrency statements, he failed to establish a clear link between the cryptocurrency purchases and payments to the alleged scammer's account. The ombudsman noted that Lloyds' decision to refund some payments does not automatically prove a scam occurred, and a reasonable evidential burden remains. The ombudsman also noted that even if a scam were proven, the payments would not have been covered under the Contingent Reimbursement Model Code as they were either card payments or transfers to accounts in Mr B's own name.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website