Deborah Wright was devastated when she lost £8,000 in savings from her Revolut accounts to fraud in October.
She expected a refund from the e-money company, but refused. Other scam victims have also had trouble getting refunds from Revolut.
Unlike banks, Revolut is not subscribed to a code aimed at compensating customers for this type of fraud.
The firm said it reviewed cases individually and regretted that customers had been scammed.
Deborah, a dog groomer in North Yorkshire, had given her Virgin Money bank details to a fraudulent website that she believed was legitimate when shopping online.
A few weeks later, the 55-year-old received a call from a man claiming to be from Virgin Money’s fraud department.
The scammer said her bank account had been compromised and persuaded her to download software that would allow him to take control of her computer.
The scammer, who kept assuring her she was safe, asked her about her other accounts and prompted her to transfer money from her 12 Revolut “vaults.”
This included savings she had accumulated over the years for her grandson and a vacation to the United States.
She lost more than £8,000 on Revolut alone, along with funds from her Virgin Money account.
Meanwhile, she received warnings from Revolut, but the scammer didn’t give her time to read them. He knew they were coming and told her he would send her.
“I allowed everything because I thought it would be safe,” she said.
“I am devastated. I’m wiped out,” she told BBC Radio 4’s You and Yours program. “It took away my comfort blanket.
“It made me angry because I have to start all over again.”
She asked why Revolut hadn’t stopped transactions that weren’t following their normal patterns of behavior like banks do.
Virgin Money is still investigating what happened.
Deborah was the victim of what is known as an “authorized push payment scam”. Scammers persuade their victims to send money themselves.
About 10 high street banks have joined a code – the Contingent Reimbursement Model Code – which aims to return money to people who fall victim to this type of fraud.
But Revolut is not a UK bank and has not signed up for this code.
It is an e-money company that offers digital banking services.
It does not have a UK banking license. She submitted an application in January 2021 but is still awaiting the result.
Another person who was scammed was Mark, who runs an arts and graphics business in Brighton.
He too was called by scammers who persuaded him to download desktop sharing software that would allow them to take control of his computer.
Mark called, but then got suspicious. When he checked his Revolut app 10 minutes later, he found almost £56,000 had been stolen.
“My heart almost stopped,” he said.
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He tried to get Revolut to stop the transaction, thinking the company could protect him, but it didn’t.
“I realized I was completely alone in this,” he said.
Although Revolut has since said it would refund £30,000, it described the situation as “absolutely shocking”.
“I can’t trust them [Revolut]. I just feel ignored,” he said.
The scammers persuaded both Deborah and Mark to download the legitimate Anydesk software.
Anydesk said people using its software to cheat are “immoral and unacceptable,” and it urged users to “never share information with anyone they don’t know or trust.”
George, a project manager from Northampton, fell victim to a different kind of scam.
In October he went to London with friends for his bachelor party.
He passed out – police believe his drink was likely spiked – and his phone and cards were stolen. The criminals then went on a shopping spree.
They withdrew £3,000 from an ATM and spent £17,500 at various Regent Street shops in less than four hours.
When he contacted Revolut, he was denied a refund.
He said Revolut’s view was that he either gave away his PIN or did it himself, adding that the whole experience made him feel “very vulnerable”.
Aaron Elliott-Gross, Revolut’s head of fraud and financial crimes, said the firm was “deeply sorry to hear that our customers have been targeted by scammers and criminals”.
Each refund case is treated individually, he said, with Revolut considering how effective its alerts were in making the decision, along with the behavior of the customer.
Mark was partially reimbursed because Revolut accepts it “could have done more to warn Mark”.
But Deborah was warned about her transactions and there was no evidence criminals had accessed George’s PIN, he said.
He added that in George’s case, consumers who use e-wallets like Apple Pay or Google Pay need to be aware that “your phone password can be compromised and overlooked.” A phone can be used to pay if the passcode is entered.
Deborah, Mark and George all said they could not contact Revolut by phone and could only speak to staff via live chat.
Mr Elliott-Gross said Revolut’s chat feature is the safest way for customers to interact with the company.
“Having a call center is not a silver bullet,” he said.
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