Not upheld: Fraud reimbursement (APP scams) complaint against Nationwide Building Society

Decision detail

Summary

Mr M complained that Nationwide Building Society should reimburse £11,000 he lost to an investment scam between May and July 2025. He claimed the Mandatory Reimbursement Rules applied and that Nationwide should have intervened to prevent the payments. The ombudsman rejected both arguments, finding the payments were made to Mr M's own trading account (outside the scope of the reimbursement rules) and were not sufficiently unusual to warrant intervention. The payments were made over several months to a legitimate trading platform and were consistent with his account activity. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The payments did not meet the Mandatory Reimbursement Rules criteria as they were made to Mr M's own trading account over which he had control. The payments were not sufficiently unusual or uncharacteristic to warrant intervention by Nationwide - they were made over several months to a legitimate trading platform and were consistent with his account activity. The funds could not be recovered as they had been used to purchase shares and lost. No failings on Nationwide's part were identified.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website