The fake bank employee on the phone

Your bank calls: there are suspicious payments. Your screen even shows the bank's real number. Yet it is a scam.

1How they do it

1. The caller pretends to be from your bank's fraud department. The number shown is faked (spoofing).
2. He says there has just been a suspicious payment and your money is at risk.
3. To "stop" it, he asks for a code from your card reader or banking app, or he has you "confirm" a payment yourself.
4. Sometimes he sends a courier to "collect your card for checking".

2A real example

"Good afternoon, this is the fraud department. We can see a payment of 2,400 euros to Lithuania. To cancel it, you must now enter the code shown on your card reader."

3How to spot it

• A bank never asks for a code, PIN or confirmation over the phone.
• Rush and fear: "Right now, or you'll lose everything."
• A number on your screen proves nothing: it can be faked.

4How to protect yourself

• Hang up. Call your bank yourself on the number on the back of your card.
• Never pass on codes, and never confirm anything in your app that you did not start yourself.
• Never hand your bank card to a courier.

Suspicious number, email or website? Check it or report it.

Examples have been made unrecognisable. Names and numbers in the examples are made up.

→ Help by country