Not upheld: scam reimbursement - failure to prevent or recover complaint against HSBC UK Bank Plc

Decision detail

Summary

Mr S lost £2,750.97 to a task-based job scam between September and October 2025, where he was guided by a scammer to make payments via legitimate money transfer providers. He complained to HSBC for not preventing the payments, and when HSBC refused to reimburse him, he brought the complaint to the FOS. The ombudsman found the payments were not unusual or suspicious in value, frequency, or pattern, and therefore HSBC was not obligated to intervene. The ombudsman also determined that no recovery mechanism would have succeeded as the payments were made to legitimate merchants. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that the payments were not unusual or suspicious enough to warrant intervention by HSBC. The modest value, lack of significant escalation, and spread over two months meant it would have been difficult for HSBC to identify a scam was occurring. While firms should monitor for fraud, there must be a balance between identifying potentially fraudulent payments and minimising disruption to legitimate transactions. The payments to legitimate money transfer providers, though commonly used in scams, cannot alone justify intervention. No chargeback or Section 75 claim would have succeeded as the payments were to legitimate merchants who could demonstrate services were provided.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website