Patsy went to her local branch and withdrew $20,000 in cash. Patsy had no history of making large cash withdrawals, but this did not prompt the bank to ask why she was withdrawing such a large sum in cash. Patsy gave the money to a courier as instructed.

When Patsy told her daughter what had happened, her daughter said she had been scammed. Her daughter contacted the police and the bank. She asked the bank to reimburse her mother’s loss, saying the cash withdrawal was out of character, but the bank refused. It said it had no reason to suspect Patsy was caught up in a scam, and she was responsible for the withdrawal.

Our investigation ​

In our experience, most banks would usually ask a customer of Patsy’s age and lack of previous history of large withdrawals about the purpose of her withdrawal. However, Patsy’s memory of the events was vague, and she said she wasn't sure how she would have responded if the bank had asked about the reason for the withdrawal.  We therefore could not be satisfied the loss would have been prevented had the bank asked her about the purpose of withdrawal.

Outcome

The bank offered to reimburse 60 per cent of the loss, or $12,000. Patsy accepted the offer.