Not upheld: scam and fraud - refusal to refund complaint against Revolut Ltd

Decision detail

Summary

Mr B fell victim to an investment scam advertised on social media and endorsed by a celebrity, losing £100,780 through 14 transfers from his Revolut account to cryptocurrency exchanges and his own account. Revolut intervened on multiple occasions with automated questions and a phone call, providing clear warnings about social media scams, cryptocurrency risks, and celebrity endorsements. However, Mr B deliberately provided false information to Revolut (claiming a family member suggested the investment and denying he was asked to download software) and continued making payments despite the warnings. The ombudsman found that Mr B authorised the payments and would not have provided honest responses even with further intervention, meaning Revolut did not miss an opportunity to prevent the scam. The complaint was not upheld and no refund was ordered.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

Although Mr B authorised the payments and Revolut had limited recovery options for transfers to legitimate cryptocurrency exchanges, the key issue was whether Revolut should have prevented the scam. Revolut did intervene multiple times and provided clear warnings about common scam indicators. However, Mr B deliberately provided false information to circumvent these protections and continued making payments despite the warnings. The ombudsman found that even with further intervention, Mr B would not have provided honest responses that would have allowed Revolut to uncover the scam. While Mr B claimed vulnerability, there was insufficient evidence that he was unable to make sound financial decisions or that Revolut was aware of factors preventing such decisions.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website