Fake bank advisor
In plain terms
Someone calls you claiming to be your bank's anti-fraud department and asks you to validate an operation to "block it." By validating, you are the one authorizing the scammer's transfer.
Definition
Fake bank advisor fraud is a phone call in which the attacker poses as your bank's anti-fraud department to get you to validate a fraudulent operation yourself.
How it works
The attacker calls, sometimes displaying the bank's real number, a technique known as caller ID spoofing. They announce a suspicious operation and offer to "block" it. To do so, they ask you to confirm a code received by text, validate a notification in the banking app, or make a transfer to a "secure account." Each of these actions actually authorizes the fraudulent operation: the victim validates it themselves, which makes disputing it afterward harder.
Warning signs
- Unsolicited call announcing fraud currently in progress on your account
- Request to share or validate a code received by text message
- Request to transfer money to a supposed "secure account" or "holding account"
- Insistence on staying on the line and not hanging up under any circumstances
- Pressure to act before checking with anyone else
How to verify
Hang up, without exception. Then call your bank back at the number on the back of your card or in the official app. A legitimate advisor will never hold it against you for hanging up to verify.
What to do
Don't share any code, don't validate any notification, don't make any transfer during the call. A bank never asks you to move money to protect it.
If it already happened
Contact your bank immediately to block the card and report the operation. File a police report. Keep whatever evidence is available: time of the call, number displayed, amounts. Report the incident to the relevant authority.
Frequently asked questions
- The number displayed really was my bank's — is that possible?
- Yes. Caller ID can be spoofed. A correct number therefore never proves the caller's identity, and shouldn't be used as a basis for trust.
- Why doesn't my bank automatically refund me?
- Because the operations were validated from your own authentication devices. That's precisely the attack's goal. It doesn't remove your recourse: dispute it in writing with your bank, and file a police report.
- Can a real advisor ask me for a text-message code?
- No. No authentication code should ever be shared with anyone, including someone presenting themselves as your bank or the police.
Related attacks
Official sources
This article is part of the Financial fraud family. Last updated: 2026-08-31.