Not upheld: Fraud reimbursement (APP scams) complaint against Santander UK Plc

Decision detail

Summary

Mrs H and Mr H complained that Santander failed to prevent losses of £66,500 when Mrs H fell victim to an investment and recovery scam. Mrs H made three faster payments from her Santander account to her established account with Bank B in August 2025, which were then transferred through electronic money institutions and cryptocurrency wallets to scammers. The ombudsman found that Santander was not required to intervene as the transfers to Bank B were not suspicious given it was an established payee with a regular pattern of pension transfers, and even if intervention had occurred, it would not have prevented the losses because Mrs H successfully deceived other financial institutions about the purpose of her transfers and had opened multiple backup accounts as alternatives.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that Santander would not have had reason to intervene on the payments to Bank B as it was an established payee with regular high-value transfers, and a healthy balance remained in the account. Even if intervention had been required, it would not have prevented the losses because Mrs H successfully deceived other financial institutions about the purpose of her transfers and would have found alternative payment channels, as evidenced by her opening multiple backup accounts and being heavily coached by scammers on payment methods.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website