Partially upheld: Fraud reimbursement (APP scams) complaint against HSBC UK Bank Plc

Decision detail

Summary

Mrs B fell victim to a job scam via messaging platform and made 48 payments totalling approximately £48,000 between 23 December 2025 and 1 January 2026, believing the payments were for a legitimate remote job. HSBC declined her scam claim on the basis that she had authorised the payments. The Ombudsman found that HSBC should have intervened on the 8th payment when the pattern of escalating payments to the same payee (over £6,700 in hours) became unusual and out of character, and that such an intervention would likely have uncovered the scam. However, Mrs B was found to bear 50% responsibility for not recognising scam indicators, resulting in a partially upheld complaint with 50% reimbursement of payments from payment 8 onwards plus interest.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

While Mrs B authorised the payments and the starting legal position is that account providers must process authorised transactions, regulatory requirements and good industry practice require firms to monitor accounts for unusual activity and intervene to prevent financial harm. The pattern of payments from payment 8 onwards (over £6,700 to the same payee in hours, significantly exceeding normal account activity of £1,134 monthly) was unusual enough to warrant intervention. A proportionate phone call intervention at that stage would likely have uncovered the scam, particularly as Mrs B was already expressing doubt about the legitimacy and later proved unable to maintain a cover story. However, Mrs B bears some responsibility for not recognising the scam indicators (no formal job application process, being encouraged not to tell HSBC about payments, her own initial doubts), justifying a 50% reduction in the award to reflect shared liability.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website