Everyday scams: spot them, stop them

Marta is 67. One morning her phone rings, and the screen shows her bank’s real number. A calm man from the “fraud team” says criminals are trying to empty her account. To protect her savings, she must move €8,000 to a “safe account” right now. What should Marta do?

Most scams trick people, not computers

Most fraud today persuades you to act yourself. In 2024, EU banking authorities counted €4.2 billion of payment fraud in Europe. For bank transfers, customers carried about 85% of the losses, mostly because scammers had talked them into sending the money.

It comes in three forms:

• Phishing: a fake email or website that looks like your bank, a shop or a government office.
• Smishing: the same trick by text message, such as “Your parcel is on hold, pay €1.99 here”.
• Vishing: the same trick by phone call.

Scammers can also fake the name or number on your screen. This is called spoofing, so a familiar number proves nothing.

Many payments need a one-time code, sent by text or shown in your banking app. Proving it is you in two separate ways, such as a password plus your phone, is called two-factor authentication. A one-time code works like your signature: whoever has it can approve a payment or a login. Never share it with someone who contacted you.

Common tricks and the red flags they share

• The safe-account scam: a fake bank employee or police officer says your money is in danger and must be moved. No real bank ever asks you to move money to keep it safe.
• SIM swap: a criminal gets your mobile operator to move your number to their SIM card, so your text-message codes go to them. A warning sign is a phone that suddenly shows “No service”. Approving payments in your bank’s app, not by text, makes this harder.
• Card skimming: a hidden device on a cash machine or fuel pump copies your card, while a tiny camera films your PIN. Watch for loose parts, cover the keypad, and prefer machines inside bank branches.
• Money mule offers: “Receive money into your account, keep 10%, send the rest on.” This moves stolen money, and it is a crime.

Almost every scam pulls the same four levers:

1. Urgency: “You must act in the next 30 minutes.”
2. Authority: “This is your bank, the police, the tax office.”
3. Secrecy: “Don’t tell anyone, not even your branch.”
4. A new payee or an unusual way to pay: a new account, a courier collecting cash, gift cards or crypto.

If you notice even one, stop. Hang up and call back on a number you find yourself, such as the one on your card. Use another phone if you can: a scammer can keep the line open.

Why a payment you approve yourself is hard to get back

If a thief uses your card without you, the payment is unauthorised, and EU banks must usually refund it. If you were tricked into sending the money yourself, it is authorised push payment fraud. In 2026, EU law gives no general right to a refund in that case. Your bank may try to recall the money, but instant payments arrive within seconds.

New EU rules, expected to apply from around 2028, should require refunds in many fake-bank-employee scams.

Since October 2025, euro-area banks check that the name you type matches the account number. Take a mismatch warning seriously, but a “match” proves only the name: scammers sometimes open accounts in the victim’s own name.

What to do in the first hour

Scammers are professionals who catch people of every age and education level. If it happens, act fast and without shame:

1. Call your bank on the number on your card or its official website. Ask it to block your cards, stop or recall the payment, and flag the receiving account.
2. Change your passwords for email and banking, and check that your phone still has service.
3. Report it to the police. In Slovenia, call 113, and report online fraud to SI-CERT, the national computer security team.
4. Keep evidence: screenshots, phone numbers, account numbers, dates and amounts.
5. Expect a second attempt. Anyone who later offers to recover your money for a fee is usually another scammer.