Partially upheld: Fraud reimbursement (APP scams) complaint against Santander UK Plc

Decision detail

Summary

Mrs S was victim of an investment scam where she was persuaded to pay fees and taxes to access a supposed £46,000 windfall. She made ten payments totalling £15,300 from her Santander account to her account with another bank between 5-13 December 2024. Santander eventually intervened and uncovered the scam through robust questioning. The ombudsman found Santander should have intervened earlier at payment six when the pattern became concerning, but also found Mrs S bore some responsibility for ignoring red flags. The complaint was partially upheld with Santander ordered to refund 50% of payments six to ten plus interest.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

Santander provided appropriate low friction intervention for the first payment but should have intervened again at payment six when Mrs S had already transferred £4,000 and was making another payment that would take the total to £6,000 within minutes. The ombudsman found that Santander's robust questioning when it did eventually intervene uncovered the scam, indicating it would have done so earlier if it had intervened at payment six. However, Mrs S bore some responsibility through contributory negligence as she ignored red flags and was not as careful as she should have been, justifying a 50/50 split of responsibility.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website