The fake bank adviser scam
The most ruinous, because it runs through a convincing human voice.
It begins with an SMS flagging a suspicious transaction on your account, then continues over the phone: a caller claims to be from your bank's security department, cites your name, sometimes your latest transactions, and invites you to "confirm" a cancellation. What they have you confirm is in fact an outgoing transfer. This is the fraud with the highest average loss, precisely because the human voice disarms the wariness the SMS alone would have raised.
How this scam works
The SMS is only the trigger: it sets up the anxiety and makes the call that follows credible. The caller can display your branch's real number, a technical trick now commonplace among fraudsters. They then ask you to read out the confirmation code received by SMS, or to approve a notification in your banking app. That code or that approval cancels nothing: it authorises the fraudulent operation.
How to spot it
- You're asked to pass on a code received by SMS — an adviser never needs that code.
- You're pressed to act this instant, while being discouraged from calling your branch back yourself.
- You're invited to approve a notification in the app "to cancel" a movement.
- The number displayed is your bank's, which proves nothing: caller ID can be faked.
What to do after receiving this message
- 1
Hang up without hesitation
Cutting the exchange short has no impact if the call was legitimate. The speed of the conversation is the fraudster's master weapon.
- 2
Call your bank back via its official contact details
Dial the number on your card or in your app, never the one from the SMS nor the call log's automatic redial.
- 3
Block the card if you gave out a code
Demand an immediate block and dispute the operations. The delay makes all the difference.
- 4
Report the SMS to 33700
The original message is part of a campaign: reporting it helps cut the line at its source.
The reflexes to banish absolutely
- •Never read out a confirmation code received by SMS, to anyone, including someone claiming to be your bank.
- •Never approve a notification in your banking app during a call you didn't initiate.
- •Never make a so-called security transfer to an allegedly protected account: that account is the fraudster's.
Your frequently asked questions
Q01Would my bank phone me about a suspicious transaction?
Yes, but it will never ask you for a confirmation code, a password, or to approve an operation during the call.
Q02Is a refund still possible after approval?
It all depends on the context and your bank's judgement, then, in case of disagreement, on the banking ombudsman: dispute it in writing and without delay, since time works against you.
SMS Anonyme has no connection with the organisations mentioned on these pages, cited only because crooks hijack their names. Our service is moreover confined to personal, one-off sends, from a masked number: it broadcasts no campaign or commercial message, and could not be the source of a fraudulent SMS received under our name or that of a third party.
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