← مقالات وأدلة عن الاحتيال والأمن السيبراني والخصوصية
Fake bank call centres and courier scams in Brazil: how they work
Fake bank call centre scams in Brazil rose 195.7% in the first half of 2025, Febraban says. How the fake courier step works and how to stay safe.
A call from the "bank's security team", an alert about a suspicious purchase, an instruction to hang up and dial the number on the card, and finally a courier at the door to "collect the card for forensic analysis". This sequence combines two of Brazil's most persistent scams: the fake call centre and the fake motorcycle courier ("falso motoboy").
The numbers
According to Febraban, Brazil's banking federation, the fake call centre (or fake bank employee) scam accounted for about 105,000 reported cases in 2024, and the fake courier scam for about 5,000, as reported by Agência Brasil. In the first half of 2025, fake call centre reports rose to 139,000, up 195.7% year on year, second only to fake online sales (174,000), according to Febraban data published by IstoÉ Dinheiro.
How it works
Criminals pose as bank staff, report a problem or an irregular purchase, collect personal data and then ask for transfers to "fix" the account. Recent variants described by Consumidor Moderno include spoofed caller ID showing the bank's real number, fake police reports claiming the branch is under investigation, a "new device linked to your account" pretext, and calls passed between fake departments with the bank's own hold music.
The courier is the physical step. In April 2026, São Paulo's civil police launched Operation Chamada Bancária, serving five arrest and seven search warrants. According to Metrópoles, the group used an automated phone system that kept the line open: victims were told to hang up and call the number on their card, but were still talking to the criminals. A courier then picked up the card. Most victims were elderly.
That same month, in Goiânia, two men were arrested for posing as pharmacy staff, bank employees and police officers and using app-based couriers to collect cards, phones and cash; police seized 17 card machines, 12 cards and nearly R$19,000, according to O Hoje. The pattern is not new: a 2020 operation in Alagoas described the same script, with more than 100 victims and losses of about R$1.3 million (TNH1).
Why it works
Febraban describes the scam as social engineering: criminals exploit fear and urgency and use genuine personal data, often obtained illegally, to sound credible. The "call the number on your card" step is particularly effective because it mirrors the very advice banks give customers. That is why the current recommendation is to call back from a different phone, so a line kept open by the fraudsters cannot intercept the call. Elderly customers, who are more likely to trust a polite caller and less likely to check apps, remain the main targets.
How to protect yourself
- Banks never send a courier to collect a card.
- Banks never ask for passwords, tokens, transfers or "Pix tests".
- Urgency and pressure are red flags.
- Hang up and call the official number from a different phone.
- If you were scammed, contact your bank immediately, file a police report and, for Pix transfers, request a refund claim through the MED mechanism.
المصدر
- Movimento Econômico / Agência Brasil – Febraban divulga os 10 golpes mais aplicados (2024)
- IstoÉ Dinheiro / Estadão Conteúdo – Golpe da falsa venda lidera ranking (1º semestre de 2025)
- Consumidor Moderno – Golpe da falsa central bancária ganha novos disfarces
- Metrópoles – Operação Chamada Bancária (Polícia Civil de SP)
- O Hoje – Dupla suspeita de golpes bancários é presa em Goiânia
- TNH1 – Golpe do motoboy: nove presos em operação de AL, SP e MA