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Fake bank advisors: protect yourself on the phone

Fake bank advisors on the phone claim thousands of victims. Learn to unmask them, protect your accounts and react if you fall victim to fraud.

Your phone rings. The number displayed matches your bank's number exactly. A professional voice introduces themselves as your adviser and informs you of a suspicious transaction on your account. To block it, you must act within minutes. The fake bank adviser scam is one of the most sophisticated and devastating frauds in France, with individual losses sometimes reaching tens of thousands of euros.

The standard script

  • Phase 1 — Trust building: the scammer cites your name, branch, or last four card digits (data from breaches or illicit databases).
  • Phase 2 — Fraud announcement: a suspicious transaction is in progress, for an alarming amount.
  • Phase 3 — Urgency: if you do not act immediately, the transaction will be irreversible.
  • Phase 4 — Extraction: you are asked for the SMS code you just received, or to approve an operation in your banking app. That action authorises the fraudulent transfer.

Why the displayed number can look legitimate

Fraudsters use spoofing to display your real bank's number. VoIP protocols make this cheap and accessible. The ACPR (France's banking regulator) consistently reminds the public: real banks never call to ask you to validate an operation or share an SMS code.

Checking the number on TelCheck

Note the displayed number and search it immediately on TelCheck (telcheck.fr). Even if it looks like your bank's number, other spoofing victims may have already reported it. Comments like "fake BNP adviser" or "Crédit Agricole spoofing" will appear clearly in the results.

Golden rules

  • Never share an SMS code: your bank never needs a code you received.
  • Never approve an operation "to block it": approving in your app authorises it, regardless of the pretext.
  • Hang up and call back on the official number: find it on the back of your card or in your app. Wait a few minutes before calling back.

If you have been defrauded: urgent steps

  • Call your bank's anti-fraud line immediately (often 24/7).
  • Request a card block and suspension of online access.
  • File a police complaint via service-public.fr.
  • Report to the ACPR and on Signal Conso (signalconso.gouv.fr).
  • Report the calling number on TelCheck.
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