Revolut has around 45million customers worldwide, with nine million in the UK, but has not yet been granted full status as a bank
A man shared how he watched ยฃ165,000 stolen from his business account byย fraudsters.
Jack toldย BBC Panoramaย that the money was stolen from his Revolut account and blamed the firm’s security measures for the theft. Theย scammersย had managed to bypass Revolut’s ID verification process to gain access to his account, but as of this writing, the e-firm has refused to refund the stolen cash.
Revolut is a digital-only financial institution, so it only has services online and through its app, and it has no physical branches. Revolut has not yet been granted full status as a bank. It currently has around 45million customers worldwide, with nine million in the UK.
The firm offers a range of features, including competitive foreign exchange rates, which appealed to Jack as he runs an international business and needs to hold multiple currencies. Jack also said Revolut’s security features – which are promoted in the firm’s advertisements – were a factor in him signing up.
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The scam occurred back in February of this year when Jack was in a co-working space. He received a phone call from a scammer who claimed to be from Revolut and was told that his account had been compromised, likely through being on shared wifi. The scammers then tricked Jack into sharing enough information for them to access his Revolut account, which means they could see all his previous transactions, including a ยฃ21.98 purchase at the online retailer Etsy that morning.
Jack told theย BBCย that while on the phone with the scammers, he received a text from Revolut asking him to confirm the exact amount he had spent on Etsy by typing in a six-digit security code. Jack read the code to the scammers which – without realising – authorised a new payment to a fake account set up by the scammers.
The first fake payment was to an account set up by the scammers called Etsy; two more payments were then taken to other fake accounts called โRevolut Feesโ and โRevolut Fees Careโ. As Jack had unknowingly approved these new payees, more money began to be taken, and thousands upon thousands of pounds started to come out.
As soon as Jack realized he was being scammed, he tried to contact Revolut but struggled because the firm does not have a dedicated helpline, just an online chat function in its app. Jack used this chat tool, sending the message: “Iโve been scammed; please freeze my account.
However, after reporting the incident, it took a further 23 minutes to reach the right Revolut department and freeze the account. This delay saw another ยฃ67,000 taken from Jack’s account – overall, ยฃ165,000 was stolen by the scammers.
Jack told the BBC that he believes the scammers bypassed Revolut’s facial-recognition software, allowing them to access his account on their device. Under Revolut’s fraud measures, if you want to set up a new device, you need to provide a selfie, which Jack did not do. Jack asked Revolut to show him the image used to authorise the new device.
