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

Decision detail

Summary

Mr S complained that Revolut should refund two payments totalling £8,900 that he made in 2024 to a director for a visa sponsorship and company investment, which he now believes were scams. Revolut declined to refund the payments, characterising them as a civil dispute. The ombudsman found that the first payment was not of a suspicious size to warrant additional checks, and that the second payment did not meet the definition of an APP scam under the Payment Systems Regulator's Reimbursement Rules because the evidence did not clearly establish that Mr S was deceived or failed to receive the intended benefit. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that the first payment of £3,900 was not of a suspicious size or nature to warrant additional checks by Revolut. For the second payment of £5,000, while the Reimbursement Rules were in force, the ombudsman could not safely conclude that Mr S was the victim of an APP scam as defined in the rules because the evidence did not clearly establish that the director deceived Mr S about the investment or that Mr S did not receive what was intended, particularly given that Companies House filings showed Mr S owned more shares than expected.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website