Consumers

Scams

What should I do if I suspect I have been scammed?

Contact the blocking service and your bank immediately if you suspect that you have forwarded your online banking credentials or payment card information into the wrong hands, if you notice suspicious payment transactions in your account, or if you suspect that you have been fraudulently tricked into paying money. In this way, further losses may be prevented and payments possibly cancelled.

If necessary, make a written complaint to the bank. You have the right to receive, on your request, a written response to your complaint within a reasonable period of time.

If you notice that you have been scammed, you should make a report on an offence to the police. Bringing scams to the attention of the police is also useful in fraud prevention work.

Victims of scams often receive a contact shortly after the scam is revealed, promising to help them recover the money they have lost. The contact may be, for example, a telephone call, email or letter. The contact person may present themselves as, for example, a representative of a public authority, bank or law firm. Typically, the assistance offered requires an advance payment or identification with banking credentials, which can result in a new scam and further loss of funds.

Characteristics of a scam

  • If something seems too good to be true, it rarely is true.
  • The contact comes unexpectedly and from a previously unknown party or service provider. A scam may also be carried out in the name of a familiar service provider, pretending to be the service provider.
  • You are asked to respond quickly to the contact, and the possible offer is only valid for a short period of time. A decision must be made immediately or the offer becomes void.
  • The contact or offer is available to a small number of people or only to you.
  • The contact may be untidy and unclear in appearance and language, or written in poor English. Nowadays, scams may also be cleverly crafted, and you may not immediately recognise that it is a scam from the appearance of the contact.
  • The party making the investment offer is not authorised.
  • The investment offered is complex or difficult to understand.

See more signs of investment fraud in the Typical scams section.

How can I avoid being scammed?

When using financial services, there is always a risk of abuse. It is important to be aware of the possibility of scams and to be vigilant about any contacts you receive, for example via telephone, email or social media. A bank, the police or other public authority will never ask for your payment card information or banking credentials via telephone, email or social media.

Banks are responsible for the security of the services they offer online, but the FIN-FSA reminds consumers of their own responsibility and of the security practices worth keeping in mind when making online and mobile payments.

When using online services, customers should be suspicious and also remember that banks or authorities will never ask for their bank credentials or payment card information by phone, email or text message. Customers should also be careful about clicking links. Bank credentials should never be used to log in to services via links in messages. Links even in genuine-looking messages may lead to a fake website and online banking credentials falling into the hands of criminals.

The risk of online banking credentials falling into the wrong hands can be reduced by using, for example, other strong identification tools, such as a mobile or citizen certificate, when identifying yourself to official services.

A so-called digital identity wallet application for mobile phones is currently being developed in the EU. In the future, it will be possible to use it for digital authentication of identity when logging into both public and private online services throughout the EU.

Through our website, you can check whether a service provider is authorised or is on the FIN-FSA’s warning lists. You can view authorisations and warnings in the registers section of the FIN-FSA’s website.

FIN-FSA has no role in individual fraud situations

The FIN-FSA does not address or resolve division of responsibility for losses arising between a customer and a bank in individual fraud situations. We advise you to contact your bank in the first instance and, if necessary, make a written complaint.

You can, however, send us notifications about the problems you encounter if a supervised entity of the FIN-FSA is involved and there is suspicion that the company is not adhering to a satisfactory code of conduct in its operations. At our discretion, we will take the matters raised in notifications into account in our supervisory activities.

We also monitor on a general level that banks and other entities we supervise comply with the security requirements set for online banking services and payments.

The section Problems with a service provider on our website has more detailed guidelines on how to act in problem situations with the service providers under our supervision.

More information about scams is also available from the services of other public authorities, for example at the following addresses:

See the European Banking Autority EBA’s key security tips for consumers when choosing online or mobile banking services.

See the European Securities and Markets Authority ESMA's warning about the use of AI in investing.