Finnish bank ordered to compensate scam victim for lost funds in Eastern Finland Court of Appeal

A Finnish bank is required to compensate a customer tens of thousands of euros lost in a scam, as upheld by the Eastern Finland Court of Appeal. The incident dates back to August 2021 when a fraudster managed to siphon off nearly €44,000 from the bank’s client.

The scam unfolded when the fraudster sent the victim a deceptive text message that led to a counterfeit banking website. The client, unaware of the deception, entered their online banking credentials, which were subsequently exploited by the scammer to transfer funds. The money was redirected to an account in the United Kingdom.

While the bank argued that the client exhibited gross negligence in handling their banking information, the appellate court disagreed. The court noted that it was likely the victim had limited experience with banking services, being under 20 years old at the time of the incident. Furthermore, the victim was in a state of distress when the scam occurred.

The ruling from the Court of Appeal is not yet final, as there is an option to seek permission to appeal to the Supreme Court.