Not upheld: Fraud reimbursement (APP scams) complaint against Revolut Ltd

Decision detail

Summary

Mr W complained that Revolut failed to protect him from an investment scam, seeking a refund of nearly £10,000 lost through 11 crypto exchange transactions made between September and October 2025. The ombudsman found that while Revolut should have carried out additional fraud checks before processing the £5,000 transaction due to its significant value and known crypto fraud risks, the proportionate intervention implemented (automated warning with tailored fraud prevention questions) would not have prevented the loss. This is because Mr W provided inaccurate responses to Revolut's fraud prevention questions, denying he was following instructions and not disclosing he found the opportunity online, despite being warned about the importance of honest answers. The ombudsman found no reason to believe Mr W would have answered differently at the point of the £5,000 exchange, meaning Revolut would not have had sufficient reason to suspect fraud. The complaint was not upheld, and no refund was ordered.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that while Revolut should have intervened before processing the £5,000 transaction due to its significant value and heightened fraud risk, the proportionate intervention (automated warning with tailored fraud checks) would not have prevented the loss. This is because Mr W provided inaccurate answers to Revolut's fraud prevention questions - denying he was following instructions and not disclosing he found the opportunity online - despite being warned about the importance of honest answers. The ombudsman found no reason to believe Mr W would have answered differently at the point of the £5,000 exchange, meaning Revolut would not have had sufficient reason to suspect fraud based on his responses. The ombudsman rejected arguments that the warnings were generic or that the questions were structured to allow scammed customers to proceed, finding the warnings were proportionate and specifically tailored to investment scam risks. The ombudsman also found Revolut could not have recovered the funds due to the irreversible nature of crypto transactions.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website