Not upheld: APP scam refund claim - not upheld complaint against Nationwide Building Society

Decision detail

Summary

Mr V claimed he lost £8,500 to an APP scam involving ten payments made to someone on a social networking website for car parts that were never delivered. He requested Nationwide refund the payments, but Nationwide refused, not being persuaded an APP scam had occurred. The ombudsman upheld Nationwide's decision, finding insufficient evidence of an APP scam, noting Mr V provided inconsistent accounts (initially claiming property investment scam with a school friend, later claiming car parts scam with a stranger), could not provide contemporaneous messages, and implausibly continued sending funds to a repeat scammer. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman was not persuaded Mr V had been victim of an APP scam based on: lack of documentary evidence of conversations or orders; inconsistency in Mr V's account (initially claiming property investment scam with school friend, later claiming car parts scam with stranger); implausibility that Mr V would continue sending funds to someone who had previously scammed him; and absence of police report. The ombudsman expected to see evidence of conversations between customer and seller, receipts, and payment requests, but none were provided.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website