Not upheld: Fraud reimbursement (APP scams) complaint against Zopa Bank Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Mrs Y lost approximately £5,000 to an investment scam in December 2025 after making payments to her own cryptocurrency wallet at the direction of scammers. She complained to Zopa Bank for not reimbursing the funds. The ombudsman found that while Zopa should have intervened on the suspicious £5,000 payment, it would not have prevented the loss because Mrs Y was heavily coached by scammers and deliberately provided false information when questioned by another bank. On the balance of probabilities, Mrs Y would have given misleading information to Zopa as well, preventing the bank from uncovering the scam. The complaint was not upheld, though Zopa was found to have provided poor service in handling the scam report and had already paid £100 compensation for this.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

While Zopa failed to intervene on the suspicious £5,000 payment as it should have, the ombudsman found on the balance of probabilities that intervention would not have prevented the loss. Mrs Y was heavily influenced by scammers, took out loans on their behalf, and deliberately provided false information to another bank when questioned. Therefore, had Zopa intervened, Mrs Y would likely have given misleading information rather than revealing the scam. The ombudsman found no realistic prospects of fund recovery as payments went to Mrs Y's own cryptocurrency wallet and then to scammers.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website