Not upheld: scam and fraud - refusal to refund losses from investment scam complaint against Kroo Bank Ltd

Decision detail

Summary

Mr G lost approximately £156,000 to an investment scam involving a fake cryptocurrency trading platform operated by company X. He made multiple payments from his Kroo account between July and September 2025, providing false information about payment purposes to Kroo and other financial institutions. When other account providers intervened, Mr G gave contradictory explanations and denied being guided by a third party. The ombudsman found that while Kroo could have intervened further on large payments, Mr G's clear willingness to deceive multiple banks and his heavy reliance on the scammer's guidance meant further intervention would unlikely have prevented the scam. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman acknowledged that Mr G was the victim of a cruel scam and that Kroo could have intervened further on large payments. However, the key issue was whether further intervention would have prevented the scam. The ombudsman found that Mr G demonstrated a clear willingness to provide false information to multiple financial institutions to obtain funds and continue making payments. Given that Mr G was heavily guided by the scammer, had great trust in them, and was willing to lie to five different account providers, the ombudsman concluded there was insufficient evidence that Kroo's further intervention would have changed Mr G's behaviour or prevented him from finding alternative means to make the payments. Therefore, Kroo did not miss an opportunity to prevent the scam and was not responsible for the loss.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website