Not upheld: Fraud reimbursement (APP scams) complaint against REMITLY U.K., LTD

Decision detail

Summary

Mr P lost money to an employment scam by making multiple payments from his Remitly account between August and October 2024. Although some payments triggered Remitly's fraud detection systems and Remitly intervened, the ombudsman found these interventions were superficial. However, the complaint was not upheld because the ombudsman concluded that Remitly could not have prevented the loss: the disputed payments alone could not definitively identify an employment scam, Mr P would have maintained his cover story during interventions, and he was determined to make scam payments and would have found alternative transfer methods if Remitly had declined the payments.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

Although Remitly's fraud interventions were superficial and it should have done more to protect Mr P, the ombudsman concluded Remitly could not have prevented the loss because: (1) the disputed payments alone could not definitively identify an employment scam; (2) Mr P would likely have maintained his cover story or provided alternative explanations during interventions; (3) even if Remitly had declined payments, Mr P was determined to make scam payments and would have found alternative means through other firms; and (4) recovery of funds was unlikely given the nature of the payments and time elapsed.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website