Joanna was then scammed a second time. A scammer contacted her and tricked her into believing he could get her money back. He convinced her to accept $4,200 into her bank account as part of supposedly recovering her money. Joanna was merely being used as a money mule. The bank contacted her to say she had received fraudulent funds, and froze her account. It sent her an email asking her to explain how this came about, and Joanna did as asked.

The bank said it would not let Joanna access any funds other than her wages until it had completed its fraud investigation. Joanna had recently been made redundant and was living off money her husband put into her account each week. She tried to access this money but could not. She called the bank, and it told her she would not be able to do so for up to 20 business days. 

Joanna heard nothing from the bank's fraud team for three months, despite repeatedly trying to contact it via email and phone. Four months after reporting the first scam, the bank got in touch to say it would not reimburse her $10,000 loss, and that it had reversed $4,200 out of her account because the money had been received fraudulently. Joanna complained to us about the bank's decision and the way it had handled her fraud claim.

Our investigation

We reviewed the two $5,000 transactions and concluded Joanna had authorised both. We also found there was nothing in the circumstances to suggest to the bank that Joanna was being scammed. The bank was not required to reimburse her for this loss. Also, the bank’s terms and conditions entitled it to reverse the $4,200 payment out of her account if it learned the payment was received as part of a scam.

However, we considered the bank had failed to treat Joanna fairly and reasonably, and had also failed to communicate with Joanna clearly and effectively. Joanna received very little communication from the bank, which froze her accounts for four months. The bank continually failed to meet its own timeliness deadlines, and offered no updates or explanations for the delays. It then failed to clearly explain what had happened regarding the mule payment and why it had reversed the money out of Joanna’s account.

Outcome

The bank offered $1,200 to compensate for the stress and inconvenience Joanna had suffered. Joanna accepted the offer.