How to Report Cybercrime in Poland (and Get Your Money Back)

Quick answer: If you are in immediate danger or a crime is happening now, call 112. Report the fraud to the Police by filing a crime notification (zawiadomienie o przestępstwie) at any station, online via gov.pl/web/gov/zglos-przestepstwo, or to the cybercrime bureau at cbzc.policja.gov.pl, and report the scam message or website to CERT Polska at incydent.cert.pl (or forward a suspicious SMS free to 8080). Call your bank's 24/7 fraud line right now to freeze the account and try to recall the transfer. If money left your account without your authorisation, your bank must refund it under the Polish Payment Services Act (PSD2), with your liability capped at EUR 50.

What to do in 3 steps

1. Call your bank immediately. Use the 24/7 fraud or emergency number on the back of your card or in your banking app. Ask them to block the card and account, halt or recall the transfer, and formally register the transaction as unauthorised. Speed matters most for recovery, because money can often still be stopped while it sits in the receiving account.
2. Report the crime to the Police. File a crime notification (zawiadowienie o przestepstwie) at any Police station or prosecutor's office, online through gov.pl/web/gov/zglos-przestepstwo or the mObywatel app, or for online fraud directly to the Central Bureau for Combating Cybercrime (CBZC) at cbzc.policja.gov.pl. Keep the case reference number.
3. Report the scam to CERT Polska. Submit the fraudulent message, website or incident at incydent.cert.pl, or forward a suspicious SMS free of charge to the shortcode 8080. This helps CERT Polska blacklist malicious domains and protect other people, but it is a security report, not a criminal complaint, so still complete step 2.

How recovery actually works

Be realistic. If the payment was genuinely unauthorised and you reported it without undue delay, the law is on your side: the bank should restore your account to its prior state, in principle by the end of the next business day after you notify them, unless it has reasonable grounds to suspect you acted fraudulently and notifies the Police. If you were tricked into authorising the transfer yourself, recovery depends on whether the bank can freeze the money before the fraudster withdraws it, which is why calling within minutes matters far more than anything else. Police investigations can lead to charges and, occasionally, restitution, but they are slow and recovery is never guaranteed. Treat the bank refund route and the criminal report as two separate tracks, and pursue both.

What to have ready

• The date, time and exact amount of each fraudulent transaction.
• The recipient's bank account number (IBAN), crypto wallet address, or payment link the money went to.
• Screenshots and originals of the scam SMS, emails, messenger chats (WhatsApp, Messenger) and any website addresses, kept in their original form.
• Transaction confirmations or statements showing the debits.
• Your bank's fraud-report reference and the Police case number.
• Any phone numbers, names or profiles the fraudster used.

Frequently asked questions

The bank refuses to refund an unauthorised payment. What can I do? First make a formal written complaint (reklamacja) to the bank. If it is rejected or ignored, escalate to the Financial Ombudsman (Rzecznik Finansowy), who can run an intervention or out-of-court dispute procedure against the bank free of charge: see rf.gov.pl. You can also report the bank's conduct to the financial regulator, the KNF, at knf.gov.pl.

I sent the money myself after being tricked. Is it hopeless? Not necessarily, but act fast. Call the bank immediately to attempt a recall while the funds may still sit in the recipient account, and file a Police report. There is no automatic refund for authorised payments, but banks can sometimes recover funds and your report may help a wider investigation.

What is the 8080 number? It is a free shortcode run by CERT Polska (CSIRT NASK). If you receive a suspicious SMS, forward the whole message, including the link, to 8080 so CERT Polska can analyse it and block the malicious site. It is for reporting suspicious content, not an emergency line and not a substitute for filing a Police report.

Sources

• gov.pl - Report a crime (Zglos przestepstwo)
• Central Bureau for Combating Cybercrime (CBZC) - Report cyber fraud
• CERT Polska - Report an incident (incydent.cert.pl)
• Financial Ombudsman (Rzecznik Finansowy) - Intervention procedure
• Polish Financial Supervision Authority (KNF)

For step-by-step reporting and recovery guides covering other countries, see our cybercrime help hub.