A Sussex-based businessman became the latest victim of fraud connected to Claude, the artificial intelligence chatbot developed by Anthropic, after criminals gained access to his payment details and made a series of unauthorized purchases on his account.
Zoli Rutter reported that more than £14,244 was withdrawn from his Metro Bank account without authorization. The fraudulent activity began in June when the bank detected a suspicious transaction and contacted Rutter to verify its legitimacy. Although Rutter confirmed he had not authorized the £90.90 charge, only that individual transaction was blocked rather than his entire account being frozen. Criminals proceeded to make multiple additional purchases ranging from £90 to £200 each, with many going through before Metro Bank took further action. The bank ultimately halted the card the following day, but the damage had already been done.
According to Anthropic, a coordinated criminal operation used Rutter’s payment information to purchase credits for using the Claude platform. The company stated it found no evidence that compromised card details originated from its own systems and confirmed the account behind the fraudulent activity has been banned. Anthropic indicated that affected users should contact its support services to request refunds for unauthorized charges.
Following media inquiry, Metro Bank provided a temporary refund while pursuing a chargeback dispute with Anthropic. The bank acknowledged the situation as concerning and expressed regret over the processing of fraudulent payments. Rutter was subsequently refunded by Anthropic, though Metro Bank indicated it would recover the temporary refund it had issued. Metro Bank also offered £300 in compensation and stated it has implemented measures to improve the speed at which cards are blocked during fraudulent activity.
Rutter indicated his intention to lodge a formal complaint with the Financial Ombudsman Service regarding the incident. This case represents one of several fraud incidents connected to Claude reported in recent months.
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