Not upheld: Fraud reimbursement (APP scams) complaint against Wise Payments Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Mr A complained to Wise Payments Limited after losing €21,000 in a property purchase scam in Portugal. He had transferred funds to account details provided in a contract from a real estate agent, but the account did not belong to the actual sellers. Mr A argued Wise was grossly negligent for processing the payment without verifying the recipient's name and should have implemented stronger fraud prevention measures. The FOS investigator upheld the complaint, but the ombudsman reversed this decision, finding that while Wise could have asked clarifying questions and provided targeted scam warnings, such intervention would not have prevented Mr A from proceeding with the payment, particularly given that he received false confirmation of receipt from the agent after the transfer. The ombudsman also noted that Verification of Payee was not mandatory until October 2025, over two years after the payment.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

Although Wise could have asked Mr A clarifying questions about the payment and provided a targeted scam warning to identify specific fraud risks, the ombudsman was not satisfied that such intervention would have prevented the loss. The evidence did not support a typical email interception scenario; rather, it appeared someone at the estate agent R itself may have been involved. Critically, even if Wise had intervened and directed Mr A to verify payment details, Mr A received false confirmation from agent D the day after payment claiming the seller had received it, which would likely have reassured him to proceed. Additionally, Verification of Payee was not mandatory until October 2025, over two years after the payment, so Wise could not be held liable for not performing name verification checks that were not required at the time.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website