How to Report Cybercrime in Sweden (and Get Your Money Back)
A practical guide for victims of online fraud in Sweden: report to Polisen, call your bank, and use your refund rights under the Swedish Payment Services Act (PSD2). Covers the EUR 50 cap on unauthorised payments, the BankID gross-negligence carve-outs, and how to escalate a dispute to ARN.
Quick answer: In an ongoing emergency or if you are in danger, call 112. For everything else, report the crime to the police (Polisen) on the non-emergency line 114 14 or file a report online at polisen.se (anmäla brott). Then call your bank or card issuer immediately to freeze the card or account and flag the transactions. If money left your account through a transaction you never authorised, the Swedish Payment Services Act (Betaltjänstlagen, which implements PSD2) caps your loss at the equivalent of EUR 50 and requires the bank to refund the rest, unless you acted with gross negligence.
What to do in 3 steps
- Stop the bleeding. Call your bank or card issuer right now to block the card or account, reverse pending transfers if possible, and ask them to log the unauthorised transactions. The faster you notify them, the stronger your refund claim. If your BankID or device was compromised, tell them so they can lock it.
- Report to the police. File a report (polisanmälan) at polisen.se or by calling 114 14. Many fraud and phishing offences can be reported online if you have a Swedish personnummer. Keep the report number, you will need it for the bank and any dispute.
- Claim your refund and escalate. Submit a written claim to your bank for the unauthorised transactions. If the bank refuses or blames you, take the dispute to ARN (Allmänna reklamationsnämnden) free of cost beyond the SEK 150 filing fee.
How recovery actually works
For genuinely unauthorised transactions, recovery is a legal right, not a favour. The bank refunds the money and then carries the risk, provided you notified it without undue delay after discovering the fraud. Your own exposure is limited to the self-risk (400 SEK in Sweden, within the EUR 50 PSD2 ceiling). The bank can only push more of the loss onto you if it proves you were grossly negligent, in which case your liability can rise to 12,000 SEK, or the full amount if your conduct was particularly blameworthy. For scams where you were manipulated into authorising the payment yourself, there is no automatic PSD2 refund; recovery depends on the bank tracing and recalling the funds quickly, on the receiving bank freezing the account, and on the strength of your argument that you should not bear the loss. This is why notifying the bank within minutes, and reporting to the police, matters so much.
What to have ready
- Your personnummer and the account, card, or BankID involved.
- Dates, amounts, and reference numbers of every disputed transaction.
- The police report number (from polisen.se or 114 14).
- Screenshots of any phishing messages, fake websites, fraudulent emails, SMS, or calls.
- A short timeline of what happened and exactly when you noticed and notified the bank.
- Copies of all correspondence with the bank, including its written refusal if it declines to refund.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to call 112 to report fraud? No. 112 is only for emergencies and crimes in progress. For fraud and other cybercrime, use the non-emergency line 114 14 or report online at polisen.se.
The scammer got me to approve the payment with BankID. Can I still get the money back? It is harder. A BankID-confirmed transfer is usually treated as authorised, so there is no automatic PSD2 refund. But you can still file a police report, ask the bank to attempt a recall, and dispute the bank's decision at ARN, especially if you can argue you were deceived rather than negligent. Contact the bank within minutes for the best chance.
The bank says I was grossly negligent and refuses to refund. What now? You can challenge that decision at ARN (Allmänna reklamationsnämnden), the national consumer disputes board, for a refundable SEK 150 fee. ARN issues a recommendation on whether the bank should pay. If needed, you can also take the matter to a Swedish court.
Sources
- Swedish Police (Polismyndigheten) — Report a crime (English); non-emergency 114 14
- Swedish Police — Phishing and fraud (nätfiske)
- Lag (2010:751) om betaltjänster (Swedish Payment Services Act / Betaltjänstlagen, ch. 5a)
- Finansinspektionen — Payment services rules (PSD2)
- Allmänna reklamationsnämnden (ARN) — Consumer disputes, including bank disputes
For step-by-step reporting and recovery guides covering other countries, see our cybercrime help hub.