Revolut asks suspected scam victims to send ‘hostage selfies’
An example of a disclaimer that Revolut is asking victims to submit – Madeleine Ross
Revolut is asking suspected fraud victims to take selfies while holding up a piece of paper that says they understand they are “unlikely” to get their money back.
The challenger bank requires customers to go through the security checks when it suspects they could be the victim of a scam.
It uses this intervention, Revolut said, to “break the spell” of a potential scammer.
But the selfies were described as “horrible” and “like hostage photos” by solicitors who represented scam victims.
The Telegraph has seen a transcript of an in-app chat between a Revolut support worker and a customer who was in the middle of being scammed.
Revolut, who had frozen the customer’s account, told them early on in the conversation: “Your account is currently limited because we believe it is highly likely that the transactions you are attempting to make are part of a scam.”
The digital bank asked them to verify their identity by, among other things, sending a selfie with the day’s date written on a piece of paper.
It then told them to copy and send the following statement: “Revolut has warned me in app chat that this is likely a scam. I confirm that I am not being assisted with my transaction and understand that Revolut is unlikely to recover my funds if I proceed.”
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After the customer had typed this into the chat, Revolut lifted the restrictions on their account.
“I am glad to inform you that your account is fully operational and can be used normally,” the Revolut agent said.
Another Revolut customer, posting in a forum on financial website Money Saving Expert in April, reported a similar security check.
After blocking their account due to security concerns, Revolut asked the customer to take a selfie holding a piece of paper reading: “Revolut warned me this is likely a scam; I confirm that I am not being guided and understand the limited fund recovery possibility if I proceed.”
Scammers can be extremely convincing and Revolut said interventions like this were needed to make victims stop and think about the risk they may be taking.
Mark Taber, consumer finance campaigner, said Revolut’s selfie intervention was unusual.
“It’s an unusual twist on the fraud warnings all banks put out. Taking a selfie and holding up a piece of paper might help a bit, but it shouldn’t be the bank’s way of saying ‘we’ve done all we can’. Fraudsters do tell victims they are genuine and tell them to ignore the warnings and the security checks.”
Stuart McFadden, of claims management firm Refundeee, criticised Revolut’s decision to intervene with scam victims over in-app chat.
“Chat is ineffective in our experience,” he said. “With a phone call, it usually doesn’t take long for the bank to notice it’s a scam.”
Jason Costain, of CEL Solicitors, another claims management firm, said he had seen the selfies referenced in fraud disputes. “It’s pretty horrible for the victim. They look like hostage photos,” he said.
A spokesman for Revolut said: “We ask our customers to contact us through our secure in-app chat, so they can be 100pc certain they are speaking to Revolut customer support, and not a fraudster. If we were to call a customer, we would always first confirm it through our secure in-app chat function.”
Last month the Telegraph revealed that Revolut was locked in a payout row with the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) following a surge in fraud complaints.
At least 1,000 scam victims are waiting on payouts after the challenger bank pushed back on the adjudicators’ recommendations to refund them.
Revolut customers who lost money to third-party fraudsters have complained to the Ombudsman in droves, with 3,048 escalating their dispute to the FOS between April and December 2023. This made Revolut the worst bank for scam complaints in that period.
Mr McFadden said Revolut was involved in about 30pc of the fraud complaints Refundee dealt with. “Revolut is overrepresented in our cases, especially considering its smaller customer base.”
Revolut, founded in 2015, has about eight million customers, whereas high street banks Barclays and HSBC have 20 million and 14 million respectively.
The e-money institution has been fighting for years to get a banking licence after first applying in 2021. Licences are usually granted within a year.
A Revolut spokesman said: “We, alongside many other payments firms, deploy a number of different interventions that are solely designed to ‘break the spell’ of scammers and fraudsters. Whilst we can’t comment on the specifics of these interventions, so as to not provide any insight that could help ruthless criminals socially engineer their victims and bypass these, we are constantly trying and testing a range of eye-catching warnings. We urge our customers to always take stock of our warnings and interventions, as they are there to help protect their money.”
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