Not upheld: Fraud reimbursement (APP scams) complaint against Lloyds Bank PLC

Decision detail

Summary

Mrs P and Mr T complained that Lloyds Bank unfairly refused to refund payments made as part of an investment scam. Between July 2020 and April 2021, they made approximately £60,000 in payments via debit card to cryptocurrency accounts and investment platforms M and F, after being contacted by unsolicited callers claiming to be investment advisers. They reported suspected scam activity to Lloyds in August 2020 but continued making payments, believing they were attempting to recover their original investment. While the ombudsman found evidence of scam activity with platform M and acknowledged Lloyds should have intervened on certain high-value transactions, the complaint was not upheld due to insufficient evidence that the payments to platform F were made to scammers, inconsistencies in the complainants' recollections, and the receipt of £1,300 from platform F in September 2021, which was inconsistent with scam activity.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman acknowledged some evidence of scam activity with platform M but found insufficient evidence to conclusively establish that Mrs P and Mr T lost money to a scam, particularly regarding the larger series of payments to platform F. Key concerns included: inconsistencies in Mrs P and Mr T's recollections (first payment to F predated the reported platform switch); receipt of £1,300 from F in September 2021 (unusual for scammers to return money months after investment ceased); lack of documentary evidence linking M to the cryptocurrency account; and F appearing to be a legitimate FCA-regulated company. While the ombudsman agreed Lloyds should have intervened on certain high-value payments, this could not justify compensation without clear evidence of actual scam losses.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website