How to Report a Scam in the EU (and Recover Your Money)
Scammed in the EU? Call your bank first, unauthorised payments are refundable under PSD2 by the next business day. Report to your national police and ECC-Net.
Quick answer: Call your bank now and ask them to recall the payment and freeze the receiving account. If the payment was unauthorised — you never approved it — your bank must refund you under EU rules, generally by the end of the next business day. Then file a report with your national police (every member state has its own portal or number — there is no single EU-wide hotline), and for a cross-border dispute with a seller in another EU country, contact the European Consumer Centres Network (ECC-Net). Speed matters most in the first hours.
What to do in 3 steps
- Call your bank immediately. This is the single most important step. Ask them to try to recall the transfer and block the receiving account before the money moves on. If the payment was unauthorised — a transaction you did not approve, for example after your card or login details were stolen — say so clearly and demand a refund. Under EU rules (PSD2), your bank must refund an unauthorised payment immediately, and no later than the end of the next business day after you notify them, unless they have reason to suspect fraud on your part.
- Report it to your national police. There is no single EU-wide police hotline — each of the 27 member states runs its own reporting channel. File a formal report with the police or the dedicated fraud/cybercrime portal in the country where you live. Keep the case or reference number; your bank and any later claim will ask for it.
- For cross-border cases, use ECC-Net — and preserve every piece of evidence. If the trader, fake shop or seller is based in another EU country, Iceland or Norway, the European Consumer Centres Network (ECC-Net) gives free advice and can help mediate the dispute. Do not delete anything: keep messages, emails, phone numbers, payment confirmations and the recipient's IBAN.
The key distinction decides whether you are likely to get your money back. An unauthorised payment — one you never approved — is refundable under PSD2, usually by the next business day. An authorised push payment (APP) scam — where you were tricked into sending the money yourself — is different: unlike the UK, the EU has no bloc-wide mandatory reimbursement for these yet. Your best protection is prevention: since 9 October 2025, euro-area banks must offer a Verification of Payee (VoP) check that warns you when the payee's name does not match the IBAN before you confirm. If you see a "no match" warning, stop. Stronger reimbursement rules are coming under PSD3/PSR, but they are not yet in force.
How recovery actually works across the EU
Recovery comes down to speed and category. The moment a transfer leaves your account, your bank can try to recall it — but that usually only works while the money is still sitting in the receiving account, so calling within minutes or hours beats calling the next day. If the payment was genuinely unauthorised, PSD2 puts the burden on the bank: it must refund you fast and then investigate, not the other way round. If you authorised the payment yourself because you were deceived, there is no guaranteed payout across the bloc today, though your report still helps police trace the money and warn others. If you paid by debit or credit card, also ask your bank about a chargeback. Note that Europol coordinates cross-border investigations but does not take reports from individual victims — you must go through your national police.
Find your country's reporting channel
Because reporting is national, the practical first move is to locate the right portal in your own member state — usually the national police's online fraud or cybercrime reporting service, plus your national CSIRT/CERT for incidents involving hacked accounts or devices. If you do not know where to start, search for your country's name plus "police report fraud" or "report cybercrime", or ask your bank, which deals with these portals daily. We have detailed step-by-step guides for several EU countries:
- Germany, France and the Netherlands — see our per-country walkthroughs in the cybercrime help hub.
- For any other member state, the same hub points you to the right national reporting route.
Frequently asked questions
Is there one EU number I can call to report a scam? No. There is no single EU-wide scam or police hotline. You report to your national police, and 112 remains the EU-wide emergency number if you are in immediate danger. ECC-Net helps only with cross-border consumer disputes, not criminal reports.
Will my bank definitely refund me? For an unauthorised payment, yes — PSD2 requires a refund by the end of the next business day unless the bank reasonably suspects you acted fraudulently. For a scam you were tricked into paying yourself, there is no bloc-wide guarantee yet, though that is set to change under PSD3/PSR.
Does Europol handle my report? No. Europol supports and coordinates investigations between national forces but cannot act on information from members of the public. Always report to your own national police first.
Sources
- European Central Bank — Instant Payments Regulation and Verification of Payee
- European Commission — New EU rules make instant euro payments faster and safer (VoP from 9 October 2025)
- EUR-Lex — Directive (EU) 2015/2366 (PSD2), unauthorised-payment refunds
- European Parliament — Payment Services Regulation / PSD3 (political agreement reached 27 November 2025)
- European Consumer Centres Network (ECC-Net) — cross-border consumer help
- Europol — Report cybercrime online (directs victims to national police)
- EBA-ECB 2025 Report on Payment Fraud — €4.2bn in EEA losses in 2024