Bank not liable to reimburse scam victim

The Banking Ombudsman has rejected a customer's complaint that a bank should not have allowed her to withdraw a large amount of cash to give to a scammer. 

The customer gave a plausible explanation for withdrawing $20,000 in cash, saying it was for her grandchildren who were visiting. She had been coached to give this answer by the scammer posing as a police officer claiming to be seeking to catch fraudulent bank staff. 

The Ombudsman found that there were no reasons for the bank staff to be suspicious of the transaction as the reason given was plausible and the customer refused suggestions from the staff for alternatives to give money to her grandchildren instead of removing cash. 

The bank was therefore not liable to reimburse the customer for who lost funds. 

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