More than 100 customers contact BBC about scams, saying Revolut failed them

“I ne'er imagined I’d beryllium a unfortunate of a scam,” says Dr Ravi Kumar.

“But present I am, a 53-year-old NHS advisor successful intensive attraction medicine and anaesthetics, profoundly affected.”

He mislaid £39,000 successful May erstwhile scammers tricked him into transferring wealth into his Revolut relationship and giving them entree to it.

He'd been redeeming the wealth for his teenagers.

“I was precise depressed,” helium adds. “My children are excessively young to stock this grief with.”

Dr Kumar is 1 of much than 100 radical who person told the BBC they consciousness poorly treated by Revolut aft being scammed, pursuing a Panorama probe into the e-money firm.

For him the deception started erstwhile helium received a telephone telephone from idiosyncratic claiming to beryllium from American Express, his recognition paper company. They told him that fraudulent enactment had been detected connected his account.

They said they would study this to the manufacture regulator and that helium should expect different telephone telephone from Barclays, his precocious thoroughfare bank, arsenic wealth successful that relationship mightiness besides beryllium astatine risk.

A fewer hours aboriginal helium received a telephone from idiosyncratic who said they were from Barclays.

They told him to transportation his savings to his Revolut relationship for safekeeping portion they carried retired repairs.

He didn’t. At this point, Dr Kumar was becoming suspicious.

He wanted the idiosyncratic connected the extremity of the enactment to beryllium who they were.

He was fixed a fig to telephone - and erstwhile helium did, helium heard a acquainted Barclays invited message, which reassured him.

But it was inactive the scammer connected the phone.

They told him again to transportation his wealth to Revolut arsenic a information measurement - and this time, Dr Kumar agreed.

After the transportation the scammer asked him to make 2 virtual debit cards successful the app for “testing” purposes and told him to delete the app for other safety.

Little did helium cognize that this would let them to walk thousands of pounds from his relationship - without him getting immoderate notifications.

The adjacent greeting Dr Kumar reinstalled the Revolut app connected his telephone and recovered his relationship drained of £39,000.

The 25 transactions that had been made included purchases of luxury manner and exertion items from companies specified arsenic Selfridges, Apple and Currys.

He contacted Revolut to kick but they told him successful a letter, seen by the BBC, that helium would not beryllium refunded arsenic helium had yet authorised the scammers to usage the virtual debit cards.

Dr Kumar has hired lawyers to taxable his assertion to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS), which settles complaints betwixt consumers and concern companies.

“I don’t cognize however agelong I'll beryllium capable to wage for the ineligible help,” helium says. “We cancelled 2 holidays, I've been moving astir each Saturday since.”

He adds: “What’s adjacent much disheartening than the fiscal nonaccomplishment is the indifference and deficiency of accountability displayed by Revolut.”

The e-money firm, founded successful 2015 by 2 erstwhile bankers, has 9 cardinal customers successful the UK and announced grounds yearly profits past twelvemonth of £438m.

Revolut was besides named successful much reports of fraud than immoderate different large UK bank, according to figures collected past twelvemonth by Action Fraud - the UK’s nationalist reporting centre for fraud and cyber-crime.

In Dr Kumar’s case, the Revolut diagnostic which enabled the scammers to walk his wealth was the instauration of virtual debit cards.

These enactment the aforesaid mode arsenic a carnal debit paper but they lone beryllium successful the integer world.

They tin connection customers much information due to the fact that you tin marque online purchases without providing the details of your main card.

It’s among a database of features which immoderate of Revolut’s competitors don’t offer.

Others see the enactment to clasp wealth successful antithetic currencies, transportation it abroad, bargain idiosyncratic stocks, put successful commodities and entree cryptocurrencies.

This scope of features gives Revolut a wide entreaty - it describes itself arsenic an “all-in-one concern app for your money” - but it’s besides what cyber information experts pass could beryllium a weakness.

"It's similar putting each your eggs successful 1 basket,” says Prof Mark Button, who researches cybercrime.

“If you person a merchandise which tin nexus to each the antithetic aspects of your fiscal life, and you get compromised by a fraud oregon scam, past that is highly dangerous.”

While Revolut offers galore features - 1 happening it doesn’t person is an exigency telephone fig you tin telephone to frost your account. You person to inquire them utilizing their app’s chat function.

A dedicated telephone fig mightiness person helped Lynne Elms halt scammers taking £160,000 successful 7 minutes from her employer.

She was moving astatine her champion friend’s cosmetics institution successful November 2022 erstwhile a scammer, who said they were from Revolut, told her the business’s relationship was nether onslaught from fraudsters.

They said it was an exigency and she needed to determination the wealth retired of the relationship arsenic soon arsenic imaginable oregon hazard losing it.

They convinced the 52-year-old to instal a distant desktop exertion which they said would let them to support the account. It really fto them instrumentality power of her computer.

Over a play of 7 minutes, the scammers pressured Lynne into authorising 4 transfers worthy £160,000.

The accounts she was asked to transportation the wealth to had names including ‘refund’, ‘invoice’ and ‘cancel’.

It meant she saw these words successful the notifications sent to her telephone asking her to o.k. the transfers.

“Revolut were perfectly useless. It took maine astir 3 oregon 4 hours to get successful interaction with somebody,” says Lynne.

“Eventually Revolut froze the account. They told maine determination was thing they could do. It felt similar a one-liner to accidental sorry.”

Her leader has spent £70,000 connected ineligible fees trying to get the wealth back.

An FOS researcher has recommended astatine slightest £115,000 should beryllium refunded to them by Revolut, who are contesting the sum. A last determination by the Ombudsman is expected soon.

Revolut told america they were incapable to remark connected cases that were inactive ongoing with the FOS but said they were “sorry to perceive astir immoderate lawsuit wherever our customers are targeted by ruthless and highly blase criminals”.

Addressing the information that much than 100 radical person contacted the BBC to kick astir the firm, Revolut said specified issues should beryllium raised via their app.

They adhd that past twelvemonth the fig of fraudulent transactions utilizing their work had been reduced by 20% and they had prevented £475m worthy of imaginable fraud losses.

For victims who person mislaid wealth done scams connected Revolut, the interaction goes beyond fiscal stress.

“It felt similar I was losing my concern and my champion friend,” says Lynne. “It was the worst clip of my life. I ne'er thought I'd get implicit it. I don’t deliberation I have.”