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

Decision detail

Summary

Mr M complained that HSBC refused to refund losses from a recovery scam where he made multiple payments between December 2024 and July 2025. HSBC refunded payments to third-party accounts under the CRM code but refused to refund payments to a crypto exchange in Mr M's own name. The ombudsman found that while HSBC should have issued additional crypto investment warnings, Mr M had authorised the payments and deliberately provided false information during HSBC's intervention calls due to trust in the scammer. The ombudsman concluded that even with better intervention, Mr M would likely have proceeded due to the scammer's coaching, and therefore HSBC was not responsible for the loss.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that while HSBC should have provided additional crypto investment scam warnings on 27 December 2024, the critical issue was causation. Mr M had authorised the payments and provided inaccurate information to HSBC during intervention calls due to trust built with the scammer. Even with proportionate intervention, the scammer's coaching was so effective that Mr M would likely have proceeded anyway. The payments to the crypto exchange in Mr M's own name were not covered by the CRM code. HSBC could not recover funds as the crypto exchange confirmed all funds had been utilised.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website