A court has ordered OP bank to refund a young customer who fell victim to a text message scam.
The Eastern Finland Court of Appeal has upheld a lower court's ruling that OP's Järvi-Häme branch award tens of thousands of euros in compensation to a scammed customer.
The case dates back to August of 2021, when a scammer defrauded an OP customer of nearly 44,000 euros.
The scammer sent the customer a fraud warning message that directed them to a fake bank website. Once the customer entered their online banking credentials, the scammer used this information to transfer the customer's money to a British account.
OP's position was that the customer was careless, but the courts did not agree. The appellate court noted that the victim likely did not have extensive experience using banking services, as they were under 20 years old at the time of the scam. Additionally, the victim was distressed during the incident.
The Eastern Finland Court of Appeal's ruling is subject to appeal, meaning it could still be appealed to a higher court.