Woman Loses Almost $50K to a Revolut Scam; Company Refuses Refund
This woman was in a tough spot after falling for a scam that left her Revolut business account completely drained of £40,000 ($49,476), and Revolut won't give her money back. It all happened in February 2024 while she was in the mountains in Italy, where the internet was practically non-existent, and her phone barely caught a signal. At first, she ignored a call from a number she didn't recognize. But then, her accountant called, urging her to talk to Revolut because something fishy was happening with her account. When the scammers rang back, she thought the real Revolut team was reaching out to help with fraud issues. They seemed legit, knowing all about her account, like past transactions and even the codes sent to confirm them. So, she trusted them, not realizing she was being scammed.
Efforts to recover funds
They told her they were reaching out because someone with a dodgy device was trying to get into her account. When she confirmed it wasn't her, they said they'd lock down her account for safety. They sent her two codes as part of their "security check" which she read back to them. Now she knows she was tricked by a scammer who used those codes to set up new payees and make withdrawals, wiping out her account in minutes. Ever since she's been trying to get her money back. She is shocked at how the scammers got into her account, especially since she never gave out her login details to anyone. Revolut won't show her the selfie they claim was used to access her account. They stopped trying to get her money back after just 10 days, per The Guardian. The police are looking into it now, but she feels like Revolut is blaming her for the whole thing without checking how their system got hacked.
Warning to Revolut customers
This message should serve as a serious warning to anyone with substantial funds in a Revolut account. It's important to transfer your funds to a regular bank as soon as you can, If you fall victim to a fraud like this, regular banks are more likely to return your money. Revolut is still without a banking license in the United Kingdom. Revolut has straight up they won't give the lady her money back. Revolut hasn't signed up for this thing called the CRM code. It's a set of rules for banks and financial companies that says they have to give your money back if you get scammed. Banks promise to give money back to scam victims who aren't careless.
Revolut's response and customer complaints
Revolut says, "We're sorry about what happened to LG, and we hate it when our customers get tricked by sneaky crooks. Every time something like this happens to one of our customers, we look into it really carefully, all on its own. We take a data-driven approach to identify scam activity and use sophisticated fraud modeling for inbound and outbound transactions to protect customers from falling victim to fraud, including clear, unskippable warnings and direct interventions by our specialist fraud prevention teams. Revolut will never phone you without first confirming via our secure in-app chat.”
The problem is that they are essentially blaming you for what happened. But here's the thing: from 567 in February 2023 to 1,086 in February 2024, Revolut users have filed more complaints with Action Fraud. What then ought should you do? Proceed with the Financial Ombudsman Service with your case. Though it may take some time, they will most likely decide in your favor. Additionally, considering the size of the sum, you might want to get legal counsel for your claim. According to Sarah Spruce, a partner at TLW Solicitors, her firm is helping 90 people who got scammed by Revolut take legal action against the company.