Not upheld: Fraud reimbursement (APP scams) complaint against Bank of Scotland plc trading as National Westminster Bank Public Limited Company (NatWest)

Decision detail

Summary

Mrs S invested £40,178 with company F between November 2018 and June 2019, believing she was purchasing renewable energy bonds with a 9% annual return. After F entered insolvency, Mrs S complained to NatWest claiming she had been the victim of a scam and requested a refund. NatWest declined, and the FOS Investigator did not uphold the complaint. The ombudsman found that Mrs S provided insufficient evidence to establish fraud on the balance of probabilities, noting that the available evidence equally supported a failed investment rather than fraudulent activity. Accordingly, the complaint was not upheld and no refund was ordered.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman applied the civil standard of proof (balance of probabilities) and found the threshold for establishing fraud was not met. While NatWest's obligations under the CRM Code would apply if fraud were established, the evidence presented was insufficient to demonstrate that Mrs S fell victim to an APP scam. The ombudsman noted that Mrs S provided very limited substantive information about her dealings with F, no evidence of third-party investigation into F for fraud, and that the available evidence equally supported a failed investment rather than fraudulent activity. The ombudsman emphasised that the burden of proof rests with Mrs S as the complainant.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website