Not upheld: Fraud reimbursement (APP scams) complaint against National Westminster Bank Public Limited Company (NatWest)

Decision detail

Summary

Miss D was victim of a sophisticated romance scam between June 2024 and October 2025, losing £82,803.35 across three banks. She made payment 2 of £8,005.74 to NatWest on 14 October 2024 to an international payee, which was large and out of character. Although NatWest should have identified this as suspicious and questioned Miss D, the ombudsman found that such intervention would likely have been unsuccessful given Miss D's deep belief in the genuine relationship and the psychological manipulation she was under. The ombudsman noted that Miss D had withdrawn substantial pension funds, cancelled personal plans, and was prepared to mislead financial institutions when questioned. The complaint was not upheld as the ombudsman was not persuaded that proportionate intervention would have prevented the loss.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

Although NatWest failed to identify payment 2 as suspicious and should have questioned Miss D about it through human intervention, the ombudsman was not persuaded that such intervention would have prevented the loss. Miss D was deeply under the scammer's influence, having withdrawn substantial pension funds, cancelled personal plans, and was prepared to mislead financial institutions when questioned. The key moment of realisation for Miss D was when the scammer's messages contradicted the impersonated actor's social media accounts, which occurred after payment 2. The ombudsman concluded that Miss D's belief in the genuine relationship was so strong that proportionate intervention would not have resonated with her. Additionally, the 12-month delay in reporting meant funds were unlikely to remain in the beneficiary's account for recovery.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website