Not upheld: Fraud reimbursement (APP scams) complaint against Starling Bank Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Mr S fell victim to a scam where fraudsters impersonating Starling and the FCA convinced him to authorise approximately £27,000 in purchases via WhatsApp links, claiming fraudulent payments would be refunded with compensation. Starling refunded £20,000 (from the third payment onwards) plus interest, accepting they should have intervened earlier. The ombudsman found Starling's refund exceeded their liability because Mr S bore shared responsibility from the fourth payment onwards, as he should have questioned the scammers' implausible explanations and verified their claims. The complaint was not upheld as Starling had already paid more than the ombudsman would have awarded.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that while Starling should have intervened from the third payment onwards, Mr S bore shared liability from the fourth payment onwards because he should have had more concerns about the scammers' explanations and had opportunities to verify their claims. The ombudsman determined that Starling's £20,000 refund exceeded the £11,000 the ombudsman would have awarded (covering only payments three onwards with shared liability from payment four). The ombudsman rejected the allegation of an inside job, finding the scammers used standard identity theft methods. The ombudsman also found no realistic prospect of chargeback success and no applicable scam reimbursement schemes for card payments to merchants.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website