Not upheld: Fraud reimbursement (APP scams) complaint against Wise Payments Limited (trading as Wise)

Decision detail

Summary

Mr N lost £10,000 to what he believed was an investment scam involving Company X, which promised high returns on cryptocurrency and foreign exchange investments. He used a Wise account to transfer the funds to an international account in his own name in January 2025, and later complained to Wise seeking a refund. The ombudsman did not uphold the complaint because Mr N failed to provide sufficient evidence to establish that a scam had taken place, including investment details, proposals, and payment instructions. Additionally, the ombudsman found that even if a scam were established, the payment to an account in Mr N's own name was not sufficiently unusual or suspicious to warrant intervention by Wise, which processes hundreds of thousands of daily payments and must balance fraud prevention with avoiding unnecessary delays to legitimate transactions.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

Although the ombudsman did not disbelieve Mr N's account, there was insufficient evidence to establish that a scam had taken place. Mr N failed to provide investment details, proposals, expected returns, and payment instructions. There were conflicting statements about who opened the Wise account. The account details referenced by Company X did not correspond with the actual bank credited. Without establishing a scam occurred, Wise could not be held responsible for reimbursement. Additionally, even if a scam were established, the £10,000 payment to an account in Mr N's own name was not sufficiently unusual or suspicious to warrant intervention by Wise, a money remittance service processing hundreds of thousands of daily payments.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website