Partially upheld: Fraud reimbursement (APP scams) complaint against Revolut Ltd

Decision detail

Summary

Mrs H, director of Company H, fell victim to a bank impersonation scam on 16 March 2026 when a scammer posing as a Revolut employee instructed her to make payments to prevent fraudulent activity. Although Revolut's fraud detection system blocked most payments, 3 payments totalling £16,300 were processed. Revolut declined to refund, citing scam warnings provided and 3DS authorisation. The ombudsman found that Revolut should have intervened when multiple high-value payments were declined as suspicious, but also found Mrs H bore some responsibility for ignoring scam warnings and a banner stating Revolut would not call. The complaint was partially upheld, requiring Revolut to refund 50% of losses (£8,150) plus interest.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

Revolut failed to intervene when suspicious activity (multiple declined high-value payments in quick succession) should have triggered additional checks or warnings before the first successful scam payment. However, Mrs H bore some responsibility because she received direct scam warnings, saw a banner stating Revolut would not call, and should have been concerned about being asked to make debit card payments to a money transfer service to 'secure' her account—something Revolut would never require. The scammer's tactics were sophisticated and Mrs H was under pressure, but the warnings provided should have caused her to reconsider. Therefore, liability is shared 50/50.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website