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

Decision detail

Summary

Mr K complained that Revolut should refund payments he made as part of a cryptocurrency investment scam initiated through social media. Mr K was instructed by a group to purchase cryptocurrency and transfer it to a wallet, after which he lost access to his account. Revolut declined the complaint, and the ombudsman upheld this decision. Although Revolut had a duty to prevent fraud and identify vulnerable customers, the ombudsman found that Mr K deliberately concealed the true nature of his investments during subsequent calls with Revolut, even when Revolut specifically warned him about the exact type of scam he was experiencing. The ombudsman concluded that Revolut could not have prevented the loss through earlier intervention as Mr K would not have disclosed the necessary information.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that while Revolut has a duty to exercise reasonable skill and care and identify vulnerable consumers at risk of scams, Mr K was not willing to divulge the full circumstances of his investments or that he was following instructions from an investment group. During the post-transaction calls, Revolut specifically warned Mr K about the type of scam he was falling victim to, and Mr K denied it was happening to him and confirmed he would maintain control of his funds. The ombudsman concluded that even if Revolut had intervened before the disputed transactions, Mr K would not have disclosed additional information that would have uncovered the scam, and Revolut could not have identified it based on the information provided.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website