Not upheld: Fraud reimbursement (APP scams) complaint against Santander UK Plc

Decision detail

Summary

Ms W lost £6,975 to an investment scam between September and October 2021 by sending four payments from her Santander account to a crypto exchange in her own name, which were then transferred to scammers. She complained to Santander for a refund, which was rejected, and subsequently to the FOS. The ombudsman found the payments were not covered by the CRM code and that their value and pattern were not sufficiently unusual to require Santander to intervene. Although sympathetic to Ms W's circumstances and her vulnerability due to chronic illness and mental health conditions, the ombudsman concluded Santander had not acted unfairly and was not responsible for the loss.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman applied the CRM code framework and Payment Services Regulations 2017, noting that the CRM code does not cover payments to accounts in the customer's own name. The ombudsman balanced banks' obligations to monitor for fraud against the impracticality of checking every payment. The individual payment values and the six-week payment pattern were not sufficiently unusual or remarkable to trigger Santander's payment checking processes. Although the final three payments occurred on the same day, this alone was not enough to warrant intervention. The ombudsman found that Santander could not have recovered the funds as they had already been transferred through Ms W's own crypto account to the scammer.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website