Not upheld: fraud prevention and scam losses complaint against Santander UK Plc

Decision detail

Summary

Mr C complained that Santander should reimburse over £7,000 he lost to an investment scam involving payments to a cryptocurrency exchange. Mr C's representative argued that the higher-value transactions should have triggered additional intervention by Santander. The ombudsman found that while Santander has a duty to look out for fraud, the disputed payments did not appear sufficiently suspicious to warrant additional enquiries, particularly given that Mr C had made smaller payments to the same provider previously. The complaint was not upheld, with the ombudsman noting that the main cause of loss was the scammer, not any failing by Santander.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

While Santander has a duty to look out for fraud, the ombudsman found that the disputed payments did not appear sufficiently suspicious to warrant additional enquiries. The fact that Mr C had made smaller payments to the same cryptocurrency provider prior to the disputed transactions, combined with the absence of other concerning factors, meant the payments did not stand out as requiring intervention. Payments to cryptocurrency providers are not automatically suspicious.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website