Bank helpdesk fraud: “Your account is hacked, move it to a safe account”
Bank helpdesk fraud is the most expensive scam in the Netherlands: thousands of euros per victim on average. It works because the caller is calm, competent and helpful — and because the number on your screen really looks like the bank’s.
It starts with a phone call, sometimes preceded by a phishing text. The caller introduces themselves as the fraud department of your bank. “Suspicious activity” has been seen; your money is at risk. To protect it you must “temporarily” move it to a safe account, or an employee must collect your card, or you must install a programme so the bank “can watch along”.
Everything the caller says sounds logical. There is only one thing you need to remember: a bank never asks you to transfer money. Not to a safe account, not to a “secure” account, not as a test. Money in your account is already safe.
How to spot it
- 1The number looks like the bank’s.Numbers can be faked (spoofing). The bank’s number on your screen proves nothing.
- 2Urgency and threat.“If we do nothing now, the money is gone.” A real bank blocks the account itself; it does not need you for that.
- 3Money has to be moved.Safe account, secure account, test transfer. This is the moment it goes wrong.
- 4Something has to be installed.AnyDesk, TeamViewer, a “security app”. The scammer is not watching — they are taking over.
- 5Someone comes to your door.A “courier” or “employee” collecting your card, sometimes with an envelope. Banks never collect cards.
- 6You must stay on the line.So you get no time to call the bank yourself.
A real example, taken apart
- A bank does not move money through the customer; it blocks the account itself.
- The number on your screen is spoofed.
- “Right away” — you get no time to think or call back.
What you do
- Hang up.Say: “I will call you back myself on the number on my card.” A real employee is fine with that. A scammer will protest.
- Wait a moment and call yourself.Use another phone or wait a minute: on some handsets a line stays open briefly. Call the number on the back of your card or in the app.
- Install nothing, transfer nothing.Whatever the caller says. The money is already in the safest place there is.
- Report it.To your bank and to the Fraudehelpdesk, even if you transferred nothing. The number helps others.
Never do this
- Transfer money at the request of a caller — whoever they say they are.
- Give your PIN, an SMS code or a QR code from the banking app.
- Hand your card to someone at the door, not even cut in half.
- Install software because a caller asks.
Questions people ask
I transferred money. Will I get it back?
Call your bank immediately. Dutch banks compensate bank helpdesk fraud in many cases as a goodwill measure, under conditions (you filed a police report, you were not grossly negligent). Ask for it explicitly. File a police report. See Scammed — what now?.
How can my bank’s number appear on my screen?
Caller ID is a text field the caller can set. See Spoofing: the number is right, the caller is not.
So my bank never calls?
Sometimes it does, to confirm a payment for instance. But then it asks for nothing: no transfer, no codes, no installation. In doubt? Hang up and call back yourself — that is never wrong.
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