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

Decision detail

Summary

Miss Y complained that Barclays should refund £28,213.55 she lost over two years to a romance scam involving 37 payments to an EMI account. She claimed the payments were out of character and Barclays should have intervened. Barclays accepted partial responsibility from 31 July 2023 onwards and refunded 50% of subsequent payments plus interest and £50 compensation, but maintained the payments were not covered by scam reimbursement rules as they were made via debit card. The ombudsman did not uphold the complaint, finding insufficient evidence that Miss Y was actually the victim of a scam, as the evidence provided did not clearly show requests for money under false pretences or manipulation. Without establishing a scam occurred, the ombudsman could not find Barclays failed to protect her from one.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that while Miss Y's account activity pattern appeared similar to fraudulent activity seen in other cases, there was insufficient evidence to safely conclude she had been the victim of a scam. The evidence provided did not show clear requests for money under false pretences, false statements about identity, or manipulation. The ombudsman noted that without establishing a scam occurred, it could not find that Barclays failed to protect her from one. The ombudsman gave some weight to Miss Y's recollections but considered it would be unfair to require Barclays to refund transactions without reasonable evidence of a scam.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website