Not upheld: Fraud reimbursement (APP scams) complaint against National Westminster Bank Public Limited Company (NatWest)

Decision detail

Summary

Mr M complained that NatWest unfairly refused to refund £71,800 in payments he made to an investment platform he claims was a scam, arguing NatWest should have detected the unusual payments and intervened. NatWest disputed that a scam had occurred, noting the platform was FCA-regulated and Mr M had received substantial returns. The ombudsman found insufficient evidence of a scam, noting the messages Mr M provided appeared to relate to a different platform, he continued investing for three years after allegedly identifying fraud, and the pattern of consistent returns was atypical of scams. Consequently, the complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found insufficient evidence to conclude Mr M was the victim of a scam. The messages Mr M provided appeared to relate to a different investment platform, and the pattern of consistent returns over a sustained period was unusual but not necessarily indicative of fraud. The investment platform appeared to be FCA-regulated, and while IOSCO warnings existed, they related to unauthorised marketing rather than scam operation. Without persuasive evidence of fraud, there was insufficient evidence that NatWest failed to protect Mr M from a scam.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website