Not upheld: Fraud reimbursement (APP scams) complaint against Octopus Money Unit Trust Managers Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Miss S complained that Octopus failed to prevent unauthorised withdrawals from her ISA, claiming 29 transactions totalling over £60,000 made between 2001 and 2016 were fraudulent and perpetrated by a family member. Octopus rejected the complaint, stating all withdrawals were processed correctly. The ombudsman found no persuasive evidence the withdrawals were fraudulent, noting that Miss S received confirmation letters and statements for each withdrawal but never challenged them, the majority were cheques payable to Miss S herself, and voice analysis of call recordings indicated the withdrawal requests came from Miss S. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that Miss S had not provided a plausible explanation for why she did not challenge the withdrawals when she received statements and letters showing her investments diminishing. The majority of withdrawals were cheques made payable to Miss S herself, which she would likely have received directly. The four electronic transfers went to bank accounts Miss S had previously used for contributions, suggesting they were in her name. Most significantly, voice analysis of call recordings requesting withdrawals indicated the caller was likely Miss S herself, not an imposter, as the caller correctly answered security questions and the voice matched Miss S's voice from investigation calls.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website