Fraudsters Posing as Tax or Health Officials Drive Surge in Fake Bank Adviser Scams

Fake bank adviser scams surged 34% in France in 2025, costing households a total of €516 million. The increasingly personalized scheme has become the country’s leading form of payment fraud, according to the Observatory for the Security of Payment Means.

The fraud typically begins with a phone call from someone claiming to be a bank adviser. The caller says suspicious transactions have appeared on the victim’s account and asks for personal and confidential information, such as login details and passwords, to resolve the problem.

The deception becomes more convincing when the caller knows sensitive personal data, including a social security number, income amount or home address. Victims may then comply, only to discover several days later that unauthorized sums have been taken from their accounts.

The article warns that the threat could grow as data from public services is hacked. In many cases, the stolen money was transferred through a banking application.