Not upheld: scam reimbursement - authorised push payment (APP) fraud complaint against Monzo Bank Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Mr H lost £526.98 to a rental property scam on 30 December 2025 when he made an international payment in Euros to an account provided by a fraudster. He reported the scam to Monzo on 1 January 2026, and Monzo reimbursed him 50% (£263.49) as a gesture of goodwill, though the payment was not covered by the Faster Payments Scheme reimbursement rules as it was an international transaction. Mr H complained that he should receive full reimbursement as he had acted without negligence. The ombudsman rejected the complaint, finding that the payment lacked sufficiently clear fraud characteristics to require Monzo's intervention, that Monzo attempted recovery promptly but unsuccessfully, and that the 50% goodwill reimbursement was fair and reasonable given Monzo bore no legal responsibility for the loss.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that while Mr H was genuinely scammed, Monzo was not responsible for the loss because: (1) the payment did not have sufficiently clear characteristics that should have alerted Monzo to possible financial harm - it was a one-off transaction on a new account, not high value in absolute terms, and international payments in different currencies are a normal feature; (2) there was no pattern to alert Monzo to potential fraud; (3) the payment was authorised by Mr H; (4) the reimbursement scheme did not apply as it was an international payment; and (5) Monzo attempted recovery promptly but it was unsuccessful, and funds were likely already removed by scammers given the two-day delay before reporting.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website