AFCA has ruled Commonwealth Bank is not liable to reimburse a mortgage holder who was scammed out of more than $100,000 in an email compromise.
In July 2024, the complainant received an email purporting to be from his solicitor requesting payment for a property settlement. On the same day, the complainant contacted the bank to increase his daily transfer limit.
On 9 and 10 July 2024, the complainant made two payments with a combined total of $109,350 after receiving a fraudulent email from a third-party purporting to be his conveyancer.
The complainant says the bank is liable for the disputed transactions because:
• The bank had an obligation to take due care to ensure he did not suffer financial loss when transferring funds to purchase his property because he has a home loan with them.
• The bank was aware of the scam type but did not adequately train its staff to prevent it.
• The bank did not recall the disputed transactions within a reasonable time frame.
The complainant was seeking reimbursement of his loss, contribution to his legal fees and $5768 in interest.
“The bank had no special knowledge that the complainant’s funds were at risk of being misappropriated” AFCA said in its determination.
“The bank made appropriate inquiries when it approved an increase to the daily limit but made no error in failing to make further inquiries prior to processing the disputed transactions.
“The bank promptly recalled the disputed transactions on the same day the complainant notified it about the scam. Unfortunately, no funds could be recovered.
“It is very unfortunate that the complainant was tricked and had a significant amount of money stolen by a scammer. However, where the bank did not make an error, it would be unfair to require it to reimburse the complainant.”