Metro Bank Customer Recovers £14,244 After Claude Fraud Slipped Past Card Block

1 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Aug 4

£14,244 was taken from Sussex businessman Zoli Rutter after fraudsters used his Metro Bank debit card to buy Claude credits, even after he texted “no” to a bank fraud alert.
Metro blocked the initial £90.90 transaction on 19 June but did not fully freeze the account as its text indicated, allowing a string of £90-to-£200 payments to continue until the card was stopped the next day.
Anthropic said a coordinated gang used Rutter’s card to buy credits, found no evidence the details came from its own systems, banned the user behind the fraud and refunded Rutter; Metro will now reverse its temporary refund.
Metro acknowledged Rutter had not received the service it expected, offered £300 compensation and said it has taken steps to speed card blocking, while Rutter plans to complain to the Financial Ombudsman Service.
The case adds to a run of Claude-linked fraud reports, even as the FCA recently tapped Anthropic for an AI testing initiative and says unauthorized card-fraud refunds should arrive by the end of the next business day.