FOS decisions / Fraud
Fraud
Financial Ombudsman Service final decisions, reproduced verbatim from the FOS published decisions register.
Decisions
50
Upheld
28
Not upheld
22
Avg redress
£65,853
Upheld complaints (28)
HSBC UK Bank Plc
DRN-6257053Payment service providers must intervene in transactions presenting fraud risk and provide proportionate warnings, and under the CRM Code must reimburse fraud victims unless specific exceptions apply, such as the customer ignoring an effect
UpheldMar 2026Revolut Ltd
DRN-6256272Financial institutions must take reasonable steps to protect customers from fraud, but customers must also exercise reasonable care and heed warnings; liability may be apportioned where a customer's contributory negligence is established.
UpheldRedress £95,047Mar 2026Nationwide Building Society
DRN-5589281A financial institution must evidence that the account holder knowingly applied for or benefited from the account; mere technical access or shared household use does not establish liability for fraudulent accounts.
UpheldRedress £150May 2025HSBC Bank Plc
DRN-5950824Under the Contingent Reimbursement Model (CRM Code), a bank must reimburse customers who are victims of authorized push payment scams where the customer transferred funds believing they were for legitimate purposes that were actually fraudu
UpheldRedress £14,000HSBC UK Bank Plc
DRN-5925581A lender is not liable for a business loan when the company director knowingly consented to the borrowing, even if the director was subsequently defrauded regarding the use of funds.
UpheldRedress £300Lloyds Bank PLC
DRN-6185557A bank should put a customer back as close as possible to their position before an error occurred, but cannot be held responsible for fraudulent actions of third parties or distress caused by circumstances beyond the bank's control.
UpheldRedress £1,000Revolut Ltd
DRN-5591548Payment service providers must implement systems to detect and prevent fraud, and in some circumstances must provide additional warnings or checks before processing payments, even when customers have authorised them.
UpheldRedress £45,000Santander UK Plc
DRN-5458427A bank must intervene with a telephone call when a transaction appears out of character, and such intervention could have prevented the fraud.
UpheldRevolut Ltd
DRN-5121733An Electronic Money Institution must monitor accounts and intervene to prevent fraud when payment patterns become suspicious, even if technically authorized by the customer.
UpheldRevolut Ltd
DRN-5255308Payment service providers must monitor accounts for signs of fraud and scams, and in some circumstances must intervene with additional checks or warnings before processing payments, even if the customer authorized them.
UpheldFrasers Group Financial Services Limited
DRN-5015516A lender must have proper evidence that a credit agreement was opened with actual or apparent authority of the consumer before pursuing them for the debt.
UpheldEvergreen Finance London Limited
DRN-6159062A lender is responsible only for delays within their control when removing a fraudulent CCJ; court processing delays remain the borrower's responsibility.
UpheldRedress £150WorldPay (UK) Limited
DRN-6160689A regulated firm must carry out proper checks when setting up merchant services agreements and take responsibility for fraudulent applications made in a consumer's name, including mitigating subsequent harm.
UpheldRedress £1,000Lloyds Bank PLC
DRN-6203348A customer who authorises payments under duress remains legally responsible for those payments under the Payment Services Regulations 2017, as duress does not negate authorisation.
UpheldRevolut Ltd
DRN-6255498An EMI must take reasonable steps to detect and prevent unusual transactions that may indicate fraud, even when the customer has technically authorized the payment.
UpheldRedress £1,667HSBC UK Bank Plc
DRN-6214551A bank signatory to the CRM Code must reimburse customers who fall victim to APP scams where funds are transferred to accounts opened by fraudsters using the customer's shared personal information.
UpheldRedress £95,000HSBC UK Bank Plc
DRN-6256157A bank signatory to the CRM Code must reimburse customers for authorised payments made as a result of scams, unless specific exemptions apply.
UpheldSantander UK Plc
DRN-6226387A firm signatory to the CRM code must reimburse customers who are victims of scams where funds were transferred for what the customer believed were legitimate purposes but were in fact fraudulent.
UpheldRedress £252,000Metro Bank PLC
DRN-6263241A firm signatory to the CRM Code must reimburse customers who are victims of scams where funds were transferred for purposes believed legitimate but which were in fact fraudulent.
UpheldRedress £188,000Revolut Ltd
DRN-5841497A bank may be liable to reimburse a customer for authorized payments made as a result of fraud if it failed to intervene when transactions were unusual and out of character.
UpheldPrepaid Financial Services Ltd
DRN-5997346A payment to a third party's client account held by an electronic money institution does not constitute electronic money held by the consumer, and the institution is not responsible for the third party's misuse of those funds.
UpheldStarling Bank Limited
DRN-6200744Under the CRM Code, firms must reimburse customers for fraud losses on the balance of probabilities, and it is not necessarily appropriate to defer a decision pending completion of external law enforcement investigations.
UpheldRedress £150,000Barclays Bank UK PLC
DRN-6228791A bank must refund unauthorised payments unless the consumer authorised the transaction or failed with gross negligence to protect their security details.
UpheldRedress £249National Westminster Bank Public Limited Company
DRN-6238358A bank must exercise reasonable skill and care to identify customers at risk of fraud and intervene before processing payments that show a pattern consistent with known scams.
UpheldSantander UK Plc
DRN-6244631Banks must monitor accounts for unusual transaction patterns consistent with known scams and take proportionate intervention steps, including additional checks and warnings, even for authorised payments when fraud risk is evident.
UpheldLloyds Bank PLC
DRN-5824946Banks must intervene in payments only where they have sufficient grounds to suspect fraud and such concerns would have been apparent through basic checks at the time of the transaction.
UpheldLloyds Bank PLC
DRN-6228695Payments authorised by a customer under the Payment Services Regulations, even if made as part of a civil dispute rather than an APP scam, fall outside the Faster Payment Scheme Reimbursement Rules and do not require reimbursement by the ba
UpheldWise Payments Limited
DRN-6191560A payment service provider must refund unauthorised transactions unless the account holder intentionally or with gross negligence failed to keep their security credentials safe.
Upheld
Not-upheld complaints (22)
Lendable Ltd
DRN-6153194A consumer who receives loan proceeds and uses them, even if obtained through fraud, may be held liable for the principal sum where evidence does not support claims of duress or coercion.
Not upheldFeb 2026Revolut Ltd
DRN-6054173An EMI must monitor transactions for fraud risk and intervene proportionately when transactions appear unusual, but intervention should be proportionate to the circumstances and not all cryptocurrency payments warrant intervention.
Not upheldHSBC UK Bank Plc
DRN-6256679Banks must identify and prevent sufficiently unusual or uncharacteristic payments to protect customers from fraud, but this must be balanced against not disrupting legitimate transactions.
Not upheldLloyds Bank PLC
DRN-5857351A bank is not liable for fraud losses when the customer provides plausible explanations during fraud prevention checks, even if those explanations contain minor inconsistencies.
Not upheldHSBC UK Bank Plc
DRN-6050325A payment only constitutes an Authorised Push Payment (APP) scam under the CRM Code if the recipient had a fraudulent purpose from the outset, which requires clear evidence of intent to defraud rather than mere civil dispute or poor service
Not upheldMonzo Bank Ltd
DRN-6085644A bank is expected to monitor accounts for fraud risks and intervene where payments are unusual or indicative of scams, but is not obliged to do so where payments are not sufficiently out of character or unusual.
Not upheldJ.P. Morgan Europe Limited
DRN-6254076A customer is generally responsible for a payment they have authorised, and a bank is not obligated to refund authorised card payments absent specific regulatory circumstances.
Not upheldNewDay Ltd
DRN-6157985A financial institution is not liable for fraudulent account opening where the application appeared legitimate at the time, and the ombudsman does not award compensation for distress to estates of deceased complainants for events occurring
Not upheldHSBC UK Bank plc
DRN-6247194Authorized Push Payments made to the customer's own account fall outside FPS/CHAPS reimbursement rules, and a firm's intervention duty does not automatically create liability if the customer would likely have proceeded regardless.
Not upheldLloyds Bank PLC
DRN-6216670A recipient bank owes no contractual obligation or duty of care to the payer of funds, and can only be held liable for losses if its failure was the direct and effective cause of the loss.
Not upheldRaylo Group Limited
DRN-5944328A hire agreement applicant can be held liable where the application used correct personal details, required banking app authorization, and the goods were accepted at delivery with a PIN sent to the applicant's verified mobile number.
Not upheldRevolut Ltd
DRN-6238932An EMI must not take a customer's authorisation at face value where the pattern of transactions suggests the customer may be at risk of financial harm from fraud, particularly involving cryptocurrency.
Not upheldNationwide Building Society
DRN-6240302A customer must provide sufficient evidence of their own losses to a scam, including clear documentation of payment sources and credits received, for a bank to fairly consider reimbursement.
Not upheldHSBC UK Bank Plc
DRN-6018346An authorised push payment (APP) scam must be established with persuasive evidence before a bank can fairly be required to reimburse a consumer.
Not upheldHSBC UK Bank PLC
DRN-6241096Banks are not liable for all romance scam losses when the consumer fails to act with reasonable care, particularly regarding unusual payment patterns and cryptocurrency transfers.
Not upheldBank of Scotland plc
DRN-6197037Authorized payments to legitimate suppliers for incomplete or defective work constitute civil disputes rather than fraud and are not covered by the CRM Code or Reimbursement Rules.
Not upheldLloyds Bank PLC
DRN-6239387A bank must not process payments at face value when there are circumstances suggesting the customer may be at risk of fraud, particularly when payments show patterns typical of known scams.
Not upheldClydesdale Bank Plc
DRN-5919913A payment to a legitimate supplier for goods that are defective or unsatisfactory constitutes a civil dispute, not an APP scam, and falls outside the scope of the CRM Code reimbursement obligation.
Not upheldRevolut Ltd
DRN-6171543An Electronic Money Institution must monitor accounts for fraud risks and provide warnings on initial suspicious payments, but is not responsible if a customer, deeply manipulated by a scammer, would not have heeded such warnings.
Not upheldBarclays Bank UK PLC
DRN-6190321A bank is not obligated to provide a refund for buyer/seller disputes unless there is evidence of actual fraud or scam where funds are being lost to fraudulent activity.
Not upheldBarclays Bank UK PLC
DRN-6195125A bank must exercise reasonable skill and care to identify potentially fraudulent transactions, but is not required to prevent all authorized payments even where a pattern suggests fraud risk.
Not upheldMonzo Bank Ltd
DRN-6182644A bank should intervene in payment authorization when it identifies customers may be at risk of fraud, particularly with cryptocurrency payments, even if the customer has authorized the transaction.
Not upheld