Not upheld: scam / fraud - refund claim complaint against Revolut Ltd

Decision detail

Summary

Miss N lost money to a scam involving payments to a fraudulent job opportunity. She requested Revolut refund the full amount, but Revolut declined. The ombudsman found that Revolut intervened appropriately and proportionately by the fifth payment, given the pattern of low-value, quick-succession payments to a cryptocurrency provider. Miss N provided inaccurate payment purposes in response to Revolut's questions, preventing tailored warnings. The ombudsman concluded Revolut was not aware of Miss N's vulnerabilities and could not reasonably have done more to prevent the scam, therefore the complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

Under PSR 2017, consumers are generally liable for authorised payments. While EMIs have obligations to protect customers from fraud, there must be balance between identifying potentially fraudulent payments and minimising disruption to legitimate ones. Revolut appropriately intervened by the fifth payment given the pattern and circumstances. However, Miss N's inaccurate responses to Revolut's questions meant the warnings could not be tailored to the actual scam. Revolut was not aware of vulnerabilities and could not reasonably have identified that the merchant might not accept cryptocurrency. Therefore, Revolut did not need to do more to prevent the scam.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website