We explained to Ruby that we can look only at complaints from individuals about their bank. She hadn’t received any service from the recipient bank and so we couldn’t consider any complaint about that bank. She therefore complained about the service she had received from her own bank after discovering the scam, saying she had been unable to reach it when she initially tried to contact it. She also considered the bank had not kept her adequately updated during the investigation. She could not understand why only $1,500 had been recovered, and felt the bank could have done more to try to get her money back.
Our investigation
The bank told us a technical problem had prevented Ruby from reaching it when she first tried. However, she had been able to contact the receiving bank, which alerted her bank only a few hours later. We looked at whether this delay could have had any effect on whether the recovery of her funds. The police told us the recipient had already passed on the money by the time Ruby realised she had been scammed and tried to reach her bank. As a result, the few hours’ delay made no difference how much the bank could recover. The bank acknowledged, however, that its service could have been better and offered Ruby $1,000.
Outcome
Ruby accepted the bank's offer.
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