Not upheld: scam loss and account closure complaint against WorldRemit Ltd

Decision detail

Summary

Mr K complained that WorldRemit Ltd failed to refund money he lost to a scam and wrongfully closed his account. He had sent several payments believing he was participating in a legitimate task-based job, but later discovered it was a scam. WorldRemit did not uphold his complaint, and the FOS investigator agreed. The ombudsman found that the individual payment value did not trigger WorldRemit's automatic checking system, and that even if a warning had been issued, Mr K would likely have ignored it based on his responses to other firms. The account closure was also found to be justified. The complaint was not upheld and no compensation was ordered.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman applied the Payment Services Regulations 2017, which establish that consumers are generally liable for payments they authorise. The payment in question was not of a value or remarkable enough to have triggered WorldRemit's payment checking process. Even if a warning had been issued, the evidence suggested it would not have stopped Mr K from sending the payment, as he was not accurate with other firms that intervened. The account closure was reviewed and found to be justified based on the terms and conditions.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website