Lisbon, Aug. 26, 2026 (Lusa) - The Portuguese Banking Association (APB) on Wednesday warned of fraudulent calls being made by individuals who «falsely claim to be its employees», and has issued several recommendations.

In a statement, the APB notes that during these calls, «the existence of a suspicious transfer or other irregular transaction in the recipient's bank account is alleged», after which personal details are requested.

In addition to personal details, these calls also request banking information, login credentials or authentication codes.

The APB warns that, in certain cases, the perpetrators of these calls use ‘spoofing' techniques (a form of digital forgery) to falsify the caller ID, making it appear as the association's general number.

The association emphasises that it does not monitor private individuals' accounts or transactions and does not contact bank customers to report suspicious activity, nor does it «request personal or banking details, online banking access credentials, authentication codes or any other security information».

In this regard, the APB recommends that you do not provide any personal or banking information, nor share passwords or authentication codes.

Similarly, it suggests hanging up immediately and contacting the bank directly via official channels «to confirm any alleged transaction», as well as reporting the attempted fraud to the authorities.

«If in doubt, you should end the call and always confirm the information through official channels,» emphasises the APB.

JO/AYLS // AYLS

Lusa