[REVISION HISTORY]

Global banking phishing and fraud trends

Updated 25 times since CLSTR started tracking revisions of this situation.

What changed

2026-10-03 08:21 UTC → 2026-10-06 09:15 UTC · added ~~removed~~

Authorities and legal experts across Europe continue to warn of rising banking fraud, phishing, and impersonation scams. In Spain, law enforcement has highlighted a surge in ‘smishing’, where fraudulent texts appear within legitimate bank message threads. This tactic is echoed by cybersecurity firm Bitdefender, which reports that financial and investment fraud accounted for 10.7 percent of analyzed fraudulent attempts globally. Scammers frequently use ‘spoofing’ to mimic real banking portals and employ social engineering to create urgency, such as claiming a card is blocked or instructing victims to transfer funds to a ‘security account’. In ~~the Czech Republic, the Czech Banking Association~~ Italy, CERT-AGID reported ~~that fraudsters attempted to steal over 10 billion CZK~~ 49 phishing campaigns in ~~the first seven months of~~ a single week in June 2026, ~~though banks successfully protected 8.1 billion CZK. In Slovakia, police have issued specific warnings regarding SMS scams~~ many impersonating official services like pagoPA and SEND via fake unpaid fine notifications. New methods include ‘quishing’, which uses QR codes on fake documents to direct users to fraudulent payment pages. Attackers are also utilizing international prefixes for large-scale scams, including WhatsApp job offers from France, banking smishing from the ~~energy company Západoslovenská energetika (ZSE). Recent developments show a shift toward targeting vulnerable populations~~ UK, and ~~specific utility sectors.~~ the ‘Wangiri’ scam from Cuba, where victims are prompted to call back expensive satellite numbers. In ~~Slovakia and~~ the Czech ~~Republic,~~ Republic and Slovakia, authorities are ~~warning of sophisticated schemes targeting pensioners. Scammers use spoofing technology~~ intensifying efforts to ~~mimic official institutions like the Social Insurance Agency or the~~ combat digital threats. The Czech ~~Social Security Administration, often using official-looking documents to promise pension supplements or claim urgent issues~~ Police launched a Virtual Prevention Center to ~~coerce victims into revealing credentials.~~ provide advice on cybersecurity and safety. In ~~Serbia, Elektroprivreda Srbije (EPS)~~ the Liberec region, police reported significant losses, including a ~~phishing campaign involving~~ senior losing nearly three million CZK to a fake investment tax scheme and another individual losing over four million CZK through fraudulent ~~messages regarding electricity bills.~~ cryptocurrency instructions. In ~~Croatia, scammers are using fake news articles~~ Slovakia and the ~~names of political figures~~ Czech Republic, authorities continue to ~~promote a fraudulent ‘National Pension Savings Program’ via a .biz domain. Additionally, Slovenia’s Ministry~~ warn of ~~Infrastructure and Energy warned~~ sophisticated schemes targeting pensioners through spoofing of a phishing scam using compromised Viber accounts to direct citizens to a fake website promising energy subsidies. Newer reports indicate expanding tactics. In Croatia, the Karlovac Police Administration reported telephone scams where fraudsters pose as medical professionals to target the elderly. social insurance agencies.

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