Our investigation

We considered whether anything about the transactions should have alerted the bank to the possibility that Minnie was being defrauded. If a bank detects such a “red flag”, it is obliged to make inquiries about the transaction and, if warranted, warn the customer. A failure to do so may make the bank liable for the loss. However, we could find no such warning signs. The payments were made to genuinecryptocurrency companies, so there was nothing about where the funds were going that ought to have triggered any alert. That said, two of the 14 transactions did trigger an alert because of the number of transactions made online within a short period. The bank sent text messages to check Minnie had made these transactions.She replied saying she had.

Outcome 

The bank did offer Minnie a reduced interest rate on her credit card because she had been the victim of a scam, and she accepted the offer. The complaint was settled on this basis.